A Place To Belong
by brokendisguise
Summary: Takes Place in New Moon when Bella confronts Jacob. Her heart is broken when he tells her to leave and never come back. The second heartbreak and the unlikely visitor in her room reveal the painful truth about her past. Is she alone in the world?
1. Prologue

I don't think I need to make it clear so I will only do it in the first chapter of my stories. I do not own Twilight or the character within the series, a few characters are my creation but all recognizable characters and instances belong to Stephenie Meyer. Thank you Lovies!

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><p>Prologue-<p>

Hidden within the deep reaches of the city, a lone girl fights for her life. Anyone watching would see the woman as the victim, innocent, angelic really. They would never guess that she was playing the role of hunter and the large hulking male she fought was her prey. He would fake right, she would knock him back. He tried for her jugular and she stepped just out of his grasp. It was a battle of wills, and wit. More than one hundred years hadn't given the man any knowledge of how to fight. His red eyes were empty, soulless. She felt no guilt in bringing down such a beast. First she takes his left arm, then his right, before she can count to ten, he's in pieces. She feels nothing for the beast, nothing at all as she gathers the pieces, slick with venom, and throws them into a dumpster.

"Ashes to Ashes." She smirks and she drops a match into the bin.

It was the beginning, the war. She had no idea that her life could change so drastically, she never thought she would be found. She slid through the door, her home, her haven, and was greeted by the scents of those she loved. In any other place, when she stepped into the living room of the large house, the black panther on the couch would have sent her running. It was not a normal house, not a normal haven, and no one that lived there was normal. She sat down beside the panther and stroked lovingly behind her ears.

Lorraine, the only name she ever knew, she was not alone, but she was the only one of her kind. The war was raging on and the humans were none the wiser. The battles and bloodshed happened beneath their windows in the night and they shrugged it off as if two cats were fighting. The city, the only place inhuman races could battle undetected in the middle of the street. The Panther purred against her touch, then shivered slightly before shrinking down into a human female.

"You're new here, huh?" Lorraine asked the young girl.

"Yeah." The girl whispered, she was afraid.

"In this world there are things you never thought could exist. It is a world filled with naïve humans, yes, but there are things that only come out to play when the humans aren't watching. There are two categories, protectors and demons. The protectors are those that are other than human, stronger, more able, what they are is born in them. It is natural for them. They protect the humans from the demons without ever letting our secret free. The humans can never know what we are."

"What am I?"

"You are a shape shifter. You come from a long line of them, the sect of Panthers that were long thought to have died out. We've been finding many scragglers here and there, I believe it is due to the rise in vampire activity."

"What are you?" The girl asked weakly.

"Well, I'm one of the few left of my kind. Long ago the shape shifters were at war with demons. The legends say that God grew angry at the imbalance of power, evil was winning, so he sent a fleet of angels down to earth to become allied with the shifters, protectors. They battled, good prevailed, and the angels went on to grow, evolve, bear children, and so forth. Angels are born human, we have no gifts other than a mental shield that protects us from gifted demons. When we are twice broken, the transformation begins, when we encounter a vampire after that, the transformation completes. I had my heart broken twice, then I only had to walk by a vampire on the street, the next thing I knew I was doubled over screaming my guts out." Lorraine shook herself from her memory, "I'm babbling."

"An angel." The girl murmured, Lorraine turned her back to the child, showing her what looked like a very detailed tattoo of large black wings. "They're beautiful."

"They get me out of a tight spot now and then too."

An infant cried from a room in the upper part of the house, Lorraine smiled to herself as the cry came closer. Descending down the stairs was a beautiful man. His ink black hair fell into his sapphire blue eyes as he cradled the bundle of squirming blankets in his arms. Holt, the most beautiful man Lorraine had ever seen, stepped into the room. Instantly the crying changed into a delighted squeal. Tiny hands reached out from the bundle and grasped at the empty air, the child had felt her mother's presence.

Lorraine greedily pulled the babe into her arms and peppered her face with gentle kisses, "Mommy's home, love, don't you worry." She fixed her gaze with those wide, chocolate eyes and smiled. "Everyone is safe, my sweet Isabella."

The infant gurgled and smiled, fisting her mother's ink colored hair and gazing intently on those sapphire blue eyes. Both of her parents were the same in that regard, same hair, same eyes, it came with the transformation. The two were lost in the gaze, mother and child, lost in the moment. Loved, cared for, protected. Everything the two of them needed was within reach. Until the shout came from right outside.

"THEY'RE COMING! AN ENTIRE ARMY, WE CAN'T TAKE THEM ALL!" One of the guards bellowed. The house quickly erupted into chaos. Lorraine jerked to attention and looked to the child in her arms. The whole reason for the war was that the vampires were trying to wipe out the angels, they were scared, they had every reason to be. Her heart thundered in her chest and Isabella sensed her mother's panic and let out a whine.

"Quiet love, mommy is going to get you out of here." She whispered as the door shattered into a million splinters.

Holt charged toward the door, shoving out the intruders and quickly being surrounded by the enemy. Lorraine remained frozen in horror as her mate was dragged to the ground and ripped to pieces. She couldn't even make a sound, it would have escaped as an agonized scream. Isabella wriggled, trying to get free of her mother's suddenly suffocating hold. The movement caught Lorraine's attention and she did the only thing she could thing to do. She raced up the stairs, slightly stronger and faster than her enemies, she climbed out the window and leapt into the sky with Isabella cradled against her chest. As her massive black wings shot from her spine, Lorraine let out a small gasp of relief, she could save her child.

She flew high above the Earth, so she wouldn't be detected by humans. Briefly considering fleeing to the other side of the world, she decided to head west. She would find somewhere to keep Isabella out of the battle, then she would flee. She would take the danger with her, no one would know that the baby wasn't human. She found a small town and waited, keeping watch over the residents trying to find the perfect match. At last, a week after arriving in the little town, she found the fit. A married couple who were having problems, they'd lost an infant and wouldn't risk trying again. The wife was at the end of her tether, ready to leave the man that loved her so deeply.

Very early in the morning, the woman was packing her things. Lorraine took it as her opportunity to have a safe place for her daughter to grow up. She put her in a moses basket, covered her sleeping frame with blankets, and placed a letter beside her legs. Kissing the child's forehead and wiping the newly shed tears from thick mahogany hair, Lorraine turned her back on her child, to save her life. She left without a second glance behind her, if she turned, she would surely snatch her daughter up and never part with her.

That decision was the best Lorraine had ever made, for one week later, while seeking out a new safe haven for herself, the vampires caught up with her. She cried in relief that her child was safe as the monster swung to remove her head.


	2. War

My heart clenched as Jacob delivered the final blow to the fissure that spanned the weak muscle. "Leave and don't come back, you don't belong here."

I couldn't even look at him, he'd done what he promised never to do. He'd broken me, and it hurt just as badly as the first time around. I turned to leave him standing there, my parting words, "I loved you."

I made it into my truck and onto the road before a severe pain tore through my spine. The truck swerved, but I was easily able to get back on track. I ignored the throbbing pains throughout my body and continued home. When I got to the house, I made it just inside my room before the pain shot through me again.

My window shuddered with the force of being closed and my head jerked up, I caught a glimpse of white, before a gut wrenching screamed ripped from my throat. The pain was so severe, worse than anything I'd ever felt. I felt my face and body begin to change, to alter in a way I wasn't familiar with. My fingernails re-grew each time I broke them off by clawing at the wood of my bedroom floor. The gouges in my floor drew my eyes for half a heart beat, then the pain worsened. My vision was filled with spots and I could feel the hot tears sliding down my face, I heard as they dripped to the floor. My senses were sharp, I could smell the sickly sweet scent of the dead, the rain as it fell outside. I could hear a tiny heartbeat, most likely a mouse, down on the first floor. I heard a car pull up as another scream escaped me, then the door followed by heavy footfalls through the house.

My door opened just as my skin began to split open, fresh blood falling into two tiny rivers on my back, my spine felt as though it shattered, my shoulder blades readjusted with a series of sickening pops and snaps. A force erupted from my back and I cried out with relief as the pain stopped. The wounds on my back were already working to knit back together, a heavy weight lay on my shoulders. It was like having a comforter thrown over me.

"Oh my god!" Charlie gasped, sliding against the wall until he was sitting tiredly on the floor. "I thought she was crazy." He muttered.

I turned to look at him, but the view was obscured by large black feathers, slowly, my trembling hand reached out to stroke them. As my fingers made contact with the silken feather, it jumped back from the foreign touch, it was then that I realized the feathers were mine and I could feel everything that touched them. I experimented with the newly formed muscles in my back and the feathers were removed from my line of sight, lifted in the air, poised to take flight.

"Dad?" I choked, unable to form more than the single word. I couldn't pose my questions, there were far too many.

"I'm so sorry Bells. I'm honestly, truly sorry." He sobbed, his face hidden from view by his hands. I watched his shoulders tremble with the force of his tears, I even smelled them in the air. I'd only seen the man cry once, when I had to leave again after a summer visit. He sniffled and fumbled around for his wallet, once in his hand, it was opened to reveal a worn piece of paper. "This will explain everything."

I took the letter in shaking hands and read through it.

_**Please take care of my Isabella. She's three months old and needs a safe haven. Isabella is very special indeed and you need to be prepared for certain changes she will go through. She is what humans would call an Angel fallen from grace. That is simply not the case, what she is was born in her as it has been born generation after generation. She comes from a proud people, but the vampires have deemed us a threat and their royalty has demanded we be exterminated. I am the last of my race besides Isabella.**_

_** Our race is made up of warriors, protectors of the human world sent down by God himself. We've bred and evolved like any other species on Earth. Long ago our people were everywhere, allied with shape-shifters of all kinds to keep humanity safe. Angels are completely human, until they go through their metamorphosis. The change is brought on by twice receiving injury to the heart and then being exposed to a vampire for any amount of time. The more severe the heart ache, the quicker the change once the Angel comes in contact with a vampire. **_

_**Isabella will go through this change, it is her destiny. She will have wings, they will be beautiful and like heaven to touch. She will have the strength and speed of her enemies, but her sense of sight, smell, and hearing will be even higher than their own. She will have protection from vampire kind even as a human, her mind will remain protected and after the change, more of her will be shielded from them to keep her safe. She is created to fight these monstrosities, to kill them. She will know on instinct how to do so and she will learn more quickly the more she relies on those instincts. Her wings though, they can be drawn back inside herself, they will remain as an image on her back, much like a human tattoo. **_

_**Charlie and Renee Swan, I have witnessed your pain. I know what you have been through and I'm offering you just what you need to help you move forward. Right now she is a helpless child, love her, care for her as if she were your own. I want so badly to just take her and run with her, maybe go into hiding, but I cannot risk her life for my own selfish desire to have her near. You don't believe me now, but keep this letter, one day she will come to you with questions. Please do not lie to her, she will already be going through all of this with no one of her own kind to share it with. She'll need the love and support of her parents when the time comes. **_

The letter fell from my fingertips as though it had burned me. A deep sense of knowledge settled into my bones and I straightened, pulling my tattered shirt with me to cover myself. I looked at the man that had so selflessly raised a child that wasn't his.

"I'm okay, dad. Honestly, I'm not all that surprised." The words escaped me in a sigh.

"Not surprised? You just found out that you aren't human." He was baffled.

"There are worse things to be." I concentrated and felt as my wings shrank back into my spine.

"Your eyes are-" He cut off, "You've changed so much!" He finally murmured. Then he dug in his wallet once more, "This was with the letter. It's to a safety deposit box at the local bank. You can go and investigate it tomorrow." He handed me a small key. With a kiss to my forehead he went to his room and closed the door. That was what I loved about Charlie, he allowed me to be alone with my thoughts to process things.

I sat the key on my bedside table and went to my closet, finding the only backless shirt that I owned and pulling it over my head. I turned to face my mirror and gasped in shock at what I found. I was no longer an eighteen year old girl. No, I looked very much the age of twenty three or more. Gone was any hint of childhood I'd possessed only hours before, gone were the dull brown eyes and flat brown hair. In their place was the curves and sharpness of a woman, Sapphire blue eyes and thick and wavy black locks that hung to just above my waist. My body was curved in ways that would bring a man to his knees or make any woman cry out in jealousy. I turned to investigate the detailed outline of wings on my back and they truly just added to the appeal.

I stepped away from the mirror and fell to sit on my bed and contemplate my situation. My heart was heavy with Jacob's lies and betrayal, but my body had the strength to continue, it wouldn't ruin me as Edward's departure had, it wouldn't ruin my life. I suddenly realized with perfect clarity what had happened with the Cullens. They'd duped me, when Edward first began speaking to me, he'd done something to draw me in and keep me there. I suddenly tried to mold myself for him, something I would have never done for anyone else. I had never been in love with him, he'd tricked me into believing I was. Then when he left, I was a puppet who had suddenly had her strings severed. He'd controlled every aspect of my life so that when he left I would be lost without him, and he'd succeeded.

I let my thoughts work themselves out, but I quickly became aware of the fact that I couldn't work through them in my room, with Charlie so close. I slid my window open and scented the air, it was heavy with rain, but there was no death. I slipped out the window and fell gracefully to the grass below, no sound even registered from my landing. I headed for the trees behind my house and as soon as I was hidden from view, I ran.

I stopped when my feet hit pavement. I had run the distance to La Push in about a minute or less, and the full moon peeking through the clouds called me to the beach. I removed my shoes and tossed them aside on the rocks, then I stepped gingerly into the furious waves that churned against them. The water wasn't cold, but it was relaxing.

"Shit, I thought I would be alone." A voice grumbled from behind me, I turned to investigate. A girl stood alone, silhouetted against the reaching darkness, but I could see every one of her sharp, defined features.

"I can be as quiet as I need to be, don't allow me to intrude on your night." I told her, she looked familiar, but I just couldn't place her.

"No, it's fine, I just come out here to think." She looked every bit as lost as I felt. "What are you doing out here anyways?"

"The same." I shrugged, "Do I know you from somewhere?"

"I'm Leah." She shrugged, as if that would answer all questions, it at least told me who she was.

"Harry Clearwater's daughter." I nodded, I'd remembered seeing her at his funeral the last summer I'd visited before moving back.

"Yeah." She sighed, plopping down onto the rocks, "Want some company?"

"Do you?" I asked her.

She eyed me for a second, her blue green eyes flashing something I didn't get the chance to recognize, silently she nodded. I fell to the ground beside her, neither of us spoke, no one flinched. We just remained there, still as statues, taking comfort in one another's presence. I felt an instant connection to the girl, a connection I couldn't break if I tried, and I knew it would be a turning point for the two of us.

As the moon fell behind the waves and the sky became strewn with all the colors that are only brought with the dawn, she turned to look at me. "I know you too, don't I?"

"I'm Bella. Charlie Swan's daughter." I nodded, staring out over the waves that had reflected my mood so perfectly as I contemplated my predicament. At first they had been choppy and almost angry, but as the night dragged on, they became more relaxed, more serene. I was completely okay with what I was, I would discover what I needed to along the way, allowing my instincts to guide me as my mother had suggested in her letter.

"Oh, I do know you." She said, the ghost of a smile played on her lips. "This was nice, it's good to be able to hang out with someone who isn't looking at me and feeling bad because of the crap I went through last year with Sam Uley."

"I heard about that, but really, why would I feel bad?" I asked her.

"They all look at me with pity."

"I don't pity you, no one should, he broke your heart and you're still standing, in my opinion you deserve a medal." I smiled.

"You've been through it too, huh?" She smirked in return.

"Yeah, but I've decided I'm not going to let it ruin my life." I stood and dusted off my jeans, then went to fetch my shoes.

"Hey, I know we don't really know each other, but I was wondering if maybe you wanted to hang out some time, maybe grab lunch this afternoon."

"Sure, we can grab lunch, then how do you feel about shopping? I will make it as painless as possible, I just need a new wardrobe. Let's just say I'm reinventing myself."

"Can you meet me at my mom's diner at about two?"

"See you there." I waved and headed back toward Forks. The walk gave me time to think about what I was about to do.


	3. The Things She Left Behind

_After a quick shower, I pulled on a tank top, but it was uncomfortable against my back. I felt as though I was wearing a corset tightened only a little too tight. I could bear it, but it felt restricting. It seemed as though my entire wardrobe would consist of backless clothes. I just hated having to dip into the meager savings I had in order to replace my clothes. _

_As I crossed my room to get the key from my night stand, I looked at my window, wondering who had been in my room the night before and why. Had one of the Cullens returned to check up on me? To make sure I was being their loyal little lap doggy still? Or was it someone else entirely, Victoria? Could it have been a random visitor? If that were the case, why wouldn't Charlie or I have ended up dead?_

_I shook the thought away and headed out to my truck. I arrived at the bank and was directed to the number on the key. When I was standing directly in front of the box, the clerk left and I had privacy. My fingers trembled as I turned the key and listened to the lock slide back. I opened the door and pulled out the metal box it contained. I never thought something so simple could have my heart pounding inside my throat, I never thought something so small could matter so much. When I lifted the lid, I was assaulted with the faintest trace of a scent and it rattled me to the core. It was a scent I recognized, a scent that meant safety and comfort, the scent any child would know, my mother. I didn't even notice the tears streaming down my face until I had wiped them away, I was the closest I would ever get to my mother in that moment, and I was standing in a bank._

_A simple black folder, filled with papers lay on the bottom of the box. On top of that were three black satin boxes. I took the contents of the box out and replaced it, turning in my key at the front desk after making sure I had everything. I gunned the engine of my prehistoric truck until I got back home, where I raced up the front steps and began sifting through the contents._

_The folder was first, it held multiple property deeds for houses all over the united states, there were twelve in all, including one right at the edge of Forks and La Push. There was a photo stapled to each deed, each house was beautiful and large, on a large plot of land. There were papers for an account being opened in my name, Isabella Swan, with more money than I could spend in any lifetime being deposited more than once. There were three 8x10 photographs, one of a woman, one of a man, and a wedding photo of the two of them. That one was in black and white. I didn't have the strength to look at them for the moment so I skipped them by. There were other papers and other documents that I couldn't care about, and finally there was a letter._

_**My dear angel, **_

_**I know that your heart is broken, and I know that you do not understand why I left you with strangers, but I beg you to understand it was not what I wanted for you. This world is a cruel place, it is difficult to live in, and even more difficult for someone as unique as you are. I left you in the safest place I could find, and I've made every preparation for you that I could, one benefit of eternal life is being able to develop a sturdy financial standing. I've done that, and I've owned houses and cars, but the most important thing in my life was what family I had left. **_

_**I wish I had been able to see the woman you will become, I want to meet the man you will marry, but I'm afraid that just isn't so. My love, you are strong, you are the last of our kind, that I'm aware of. You can survive anything. I promise you this. **_

_**I've left all of my earthly possessions to you, everything in this box is all that I owned and it is all in your name now. The name I know you will have. I've done everything I can to make sure you will be taken care of, that you will not want for any material object, if you want it, it's yours. You can do anything you choose with your life, you can be anything you want to be. Please, my angel, just take care of yourself and your heart. **_

_**I do not have much time, there are so many things I wanted to tell you, but the axe is coming down fast and I have to leave immediately before they find out what I did. Never trust a vampire, darling, they are all conniving, I've met all types, even those who claim to have respect for human life and choose to feed on animals. They are no less selfish than the beasts I fight day in and day out. The only thing I can tell you now, is never go anywhere near Italy, steer clear of the Volturri, my love, they are threatened by our kind, they are the ones that chose to wipe us out. Aro says the word, and you are ended. It's only fair you know that you had a brother, very long ago, but the vampires got to him. He died. I know it isn't fair for me to tell you this way. He was beautiful, looked just like your father, and he was so very cunning, it shocked and destroyed me when I discovered he was gone. **_

_**There are allies in this world for you, and if my suspicions are correct and the legends are true, there are allies very nearby. You'll know a shape shifter by scent, they will smell human, but it will be mingled with that of animal. These creatures are not your enemies, they are protectors of people, as you are. I'm so sorry, there is so much more I need to say, but I'm already out of time. **_

_**I love you, be safe.**_

The letter hadn't been very informative. It had ripped my heart to shreds though. My mother had done everything she could to keep me out of harms way, and I repaid her by walking directly into harm's way. I had been so stupid! I had an entire family ripped away from me by the very same creatures I had been so willing to die to join.

I set the letter and the folder aside and pulled the satin boxes into my lap. I opened the largest first and my mouth dropped open at what I saw. It was a diamond necklace, it dropped down so the pendent would fall just above my heart. The pendent was an onyx set of wings with a ruby heart in the center. It was amazingly beautiful. The second box held two rings, both simple and beautiful, one was made for a man and fit on my index finger, the other for a woman and it fit my ring finger perfectly. I knew instantly that they were wedding bands, the man's ring had alternating diamonds and onyx, the woman's was diamond and ruby. Inside the band were the words, "A new meaning to forever" I started crying instantly. They had to have truly loved one another.

The third box held a white gold chain with a heart shaped locket. Inside the locket were two pictures, a brown hair, brown eyed infant, and a smiling couple. The back of the locket was smooth from wear, but the front had intricate designs etched into it. I unhooked the clasp and put it on, feeling oddly lighter as the weight landed against my chest.

I sat back and stared at the objects before me, the panicked and not completely coherent letter, the bank account, the properties, the jewelry. I picked up the third box and was surprised that it still held weight. I removed the little pillow the locket had sat on and was stunned to see a pair of silver wolf earrings, I almost laughed when I saw them, but couldn't find the heart to. I took my things back to my room, then returned to the bank to make a withdrawal from my savings and close the account. I made another withdrawal from the account my mother had set up for me and had it arranged so I would receive a credit card for the account. Once I left the bank, with my bag lined with enough cash to carry out my plan for the day, I headed to Sue's diner.

I found Leah sitting in a back booth by herself, looking nervous. I plopped down across from her heavily and she smiled.

"Sorry I'm late, I got held up at the bank." I told her honestly. When we realized my words we both giggled a little.

"No worries, I thought you weren't going to show." She scanned the menu, "But I'm glad you did, how about we go all out, my treat!"

"Only if you let me buy you clothes or shoes." I bargained. She nodded enthusiastically. A warmth lit her eyes which made me wonder how long she had suffered before I came along, before she had someone who understood heart break.

We got to know one another over lunch, Sue Clearwater had been our waitress and she kept making excuses to be near our table. She was happy to see her daughter so animated, happy to see she'd made a new friend. Leah talked animatedly and even joked around a lot. She was sarcastic and bitchy, but she was having a good time. I had to admit that I was enjoying myself in her company, she was fun to be around, and apparently, my company was having a very positive effect on her. I found that I was glad to be able to help, Leah was truly a beautiful girl and should always have been smiling.

After we finished our third milkshake, all in different flavors, Leah smiled over at me, "I swear, I meet you yesterday and I feel so much better today. You are a god send, it's like all that bad shit never happened."

I chuckled, "Well, I already know I adore you, Leah. So I'm glad to hear you say that." Though she didn't know how right she was.

"Okay, now to Port Angeles, are we taking my car or yours?"

"Let's take yours, I need to get a new truck, that old beast outside does nothing but remind me of having my heart ripped out yesterday." I frowned, the fissure in my heart trembled as though it was in danger of shattering all over again.

"Okay, let's do this." She smirked.

I had never liked shopping before I met Leah Clearwater, but as we raced through the different stores, I found that I was truly enjoying myself. We clicked instantly, I bought her a whole new wardrobe along with myself, we each got five pairs of shoes, she asked repeatedly if I was okay with spending so much and I assured her one hundred times that I had it covered. After shopping, we found a car lot and I picked out a beautiful little pick up truck that was royal blue, took it for a test drive and my super sensitive hearing helped me decide it was in top condition. It also helped that it was the newest model.

I followed closely behind Leah all the way back to Forks and we raced when the road was empty or drove side by side with Leah blasting the stereo in her car and the two of us singing enthusiastically. I swore it was like being in the car with her. That first shopping trip opened the door to a beautiful friendship. For the next two months, Leah and I were inseparable. When I was away from her, I learned some of the ins and outs of what I was capable of. We became sisters and I found that I needed to let her in on my secret.

When I showed her that I was telling the truth, she cried. It wasn't panicked or frightened, it was the fact that I trusted her with the information. It was the first day she told me I was her sister. From that moment forward we were even closer, though none thought it possible. Her little brother often spent time with us, joking around or joining us for beach trips or movie nights. Hell, the kid even went to the mall with us and got some new clothes out of the deal. They were my family, I adored them.

Charlie was taking things okay, he wouldn't bring up what I had become and when he'd walked in my room to find the newly framed pictures of my birth parents hanging next to a few of him and Renee, he cried again. I explained to him how lucky I'd been, to not only have two, but four parents that loved me. He got better after that. Once a week, he would come over to the Clearwater house with me and we would all have dinner, Sue included, Sunday quickly became Charlie's favorite day of the week. In the morning he fished with Billy, and at night it was dinner with Sue and her kids. He told me he had never seen me so happy, so at ease.

It was true, with Leah I didn't have to be someone I wasn't. I didn't have to pretend, it was truly a relief. Often, I wondered if the universe had gotten it wrong, if Leah was the true angel and I was the one that needed to be saved.

I was becoming worried though, Leah and Seth were both changing rapidly, in the same way I had noticed Jacob change before he broke my heart. Seth was a happy kid, always, but he was becoming touchy and irritable. Leah was becoming downright angry, it was never toward me, but I noticed it. Their scents were also changing, but I couldn't tell what it was that was causing it, I wondered if they were coming down with something. I also worried that Leah would break my heart as Jacob had, by telling me we could no longer see each other, I worried that she would tell me I didn't belong in her world.


	4. Phases and Change

**Okay peeps, I decided to give you a longer chapter this time around. Enjoy! BTW, I still don't own Twilight.**

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><p>One afternoon, I'd had to leave early because Leah and Seth got into an argument. I went home to cook dinner for Charlie but he called to inform me he would be late and not to worry about dinner. So I settled into his favorite lounger and closed my eyes to relax. I was truly worried about my brother and sister. I never heard a car, so the knock at the door worried me even more, the scent wasn't familiar, but I smelled animal and human. A few seconds of thinking it over told me that the scent seemed like wolves.<p>

I stood to answer it and Leah stood there, trembling from head to toe, her eyes red and tear stains on her cheeks. "Oh, honey, what happened?" I asked, frantic with worry.

She collapsed in my arms and clutched at me for dear life, sobbing uncontrollably. I stroked her hair, trying to calm her, "B, I don't know what to do! Seth and I were fighting, then I exploded and I hurt him! Sam showed up, he told me to calm down and I had to listen, so I got dressed and ran here. I'm so scared B! I don't know what is going on! I hurt Seth!" She sobbed harder and her grip tightened to an inhuman degree. Had I been human, I would have been crushed. I just cradled her to my chest, running my hand up and down her arm as I comforted her. I had never seen Leah afraid, not since I met her.

The front door was gaping open, but I couldn't find it in myself to care, my sister needed me. Three unfamiliar scents bombarded me so I looked up just as Sam Uley crossed my threshold. "Get away from her Isabella, it's not safe." He ordered me. I met his eyes and they held nothing but concern, there was no anger, and the man reeked of authority and wolf.

I continued what I was doing, and Leah was beginning to calm down, her sobs had quieted so I asked, "How is Seth doing?"

"Seth is none of your concern anymore." Jacob spoke from beside Sam.

"Fuck off Jacob!" Leah spat through her tears, causing me to slip up and chuckle a bit. Even with her fears, she was defending me. I took comfort in the fact that I wasn't going to lose Leah.

"I wasn't speaking to you, Black, I was talking to your Alpha." I snapped.

"What did you just call me?" Sam asked, taking a step back in panic.

I was tired of playing games, I knew what they were by their smell alone, my mother had told me ahead of time. And the authority rolling from Sam in waves told me he was the leader, with wolves, it would be Alpha, a two year old could have figured it out. "Don't pretend like you didn't hear me. I'm not stupid." I glared at him, "Get out of my house."

"Not without Leah."

"I'm not going anywhere with you!" Leah shouted, "I need Bella!"

"No, you need your brothers! She wouldn't be able to accept you now if she really knew the truth." Jacob growled.

"As usual you have no fucking idea what you're talking about! Don't think you know anything about me anymore Black!" I snapped.

"Get Leah out of here, I need to have a word with Isabella." Sam ordered. Jacob and the other boy came to pull Leah from my arms, she struggled against them so I held tight to her. We struggled and I ended up shoving her behind me on the stairs and standing between them, the two boys were in front of me and beginning to shake.

"Move Bella!" Jacob spat.

"Fuck you, Black!" I said sternly, "You will not remove my sister from me by force. If she chooses to go, that's up to her, but you will NOT force her to do shit! Sam, after everything, you at least need to be more respectful of her!" I leveled my gaze on Sam and he actually took a step back, I could smell fear, but only a trace. I didn't care, I was livid.

"If you don't get the fuck out of our way, I'll move you myself little girl!" The other male snarled.

I turned to face him and took a moment to actually figure out who it was, Embry. And he had been so nice before. I rolled my eyes at his threat, "Touch me, you get hurt." I cautioned through clenched teeth.

He reached out to grab me and I grabbed his wrist, forcing it back into his own body, he stumbled and I took advantage of the distraction to punch him in the face. He soared through the air and took out a chunk of the front doorway. A noise rose in the back of my throat in my frustration and I turned to Jacob, "You want to try it now? I'd much rather hit you anyways." I sneered.

He made to speak, but I turned to Sam, "I'm no threat to your pack, I'm no threat to humans. If you would like, we could all sit down and have a nice, calm conversation, Black will get the fuck out of my house first. Otherwise, there will be a fight."

"I'm the god damned Alpha! You don't-" I cut him off.

"You are not my Alpha Sam Uley! You are in my fucking house, on my fucking territory and you have the chance here to make an ally or an enemy. What will it be?"

"Get out Jacob." He said tensely.

"Good choice."

Jacob growled and fled from my house, Embry dusted off bits of wood and sheepishly stood inside the doorway. I pulled Leah to sit in front of me in Charlie's chair, she sat on the floor and I ran my fingers through her hair. Her trembling from rage stopped as soon as I had her settled. Her quiet sobs continued though.

"What the hell are you?" Sam demanded.

"First, you need to sit the fuck down, then you need to realize something. You barged into my home! I don't owe you shit! I'm doing this for Leah and Seth, who I assume is going through much the same thing as his sister right now. How are his injuries?" I didn't mention the fact that I knew his anger was misplaced, I could smell the fear rolling off of him.

"He's healing, he'll be fine in less than an hour, good as new." Sam ran his hands over his face and fell back on the couch, "I'm sorry to have barged in like that, I thought you were in danger because Leah is volatile right now. If she gets angry, she'll phase and she could hurt you." He looked at Leah, who was completely relaxed by my touch and had stopped crying, "How the hell are you relaxing her like that?"

"I suppose it's just a benefit of being what I am. It would be understandable considering my kind was once closely allied with yours." I shrugged. "Leah won't hurt me, and even if she were dangerous, I could hold my own."

"How do you know what we are?"

"I can smell it. I wouldn't have recognized it if it weren't for my mother though." I shrugged.

"Renee?" Sam asked, his eyes going wide.

"I'll be right back, Leah, you gonna be okay for a second?" I asked her.

"Yeah, now that I know Seth is okay." She nodded.

I bolted up the stairs and back down, dropping the letter Charlie had gotten from my mother into Sam's hand. "That should explain it." I sighed.

He read through the letter and then looked back up at me with what looked like shock, awe, and panic all at once. "We'll need to inform the elders. You are the last?" He asked solemnly.

"I am as far as I know." I shrugged, "You don't seem to be thinking I'm lying."

"How would you know about our legends enough to fake us out?" He whispered, "There are few legends of your kind within our tribe, but they do exist. There was even a wolf mated to one of your kind many years ago, they both died in the beginnings of the war your mother speaks about. Isabella, I hope that you can forgive my past unkind behavior toward you. It has never been anything personal, I only meant to keep you safe."

I thought over his words and nodded silently, with the wolves there, I felt as though I was part of something, and I would be able to be there for Seth and Leah if I were allied with them. That meant I had to play nice, "Sam, it's fine, just please discuss what you need to with Leah so we can all get some rest tonight."

He went through the motions of explaining that the legends were true, that Leah was a protector, and so on. She listened patiently as he explained imprinting to her and explained that it had been the reason he left her for her cousin. He even broke down while apologizing to her and begged her forgiveness.

"I've only got one question, Sam." She said when he was done. I wiped a few tears from her cheek as she stared at him, "Did you fight it?"

"I did, so hard that it nearly did me in. I was vomiting up blood because my wolf was consuming my insides, he was enraged that I wouldn't just go to her. Eventually I was just too weak to fight him and he took the reigns." He was sobbing hard, I had to admit, it was difficult seeing such a strong looking man cry like a toddler, it was painful.

"You should thank Bella. If it weren't for her and you'd handled everything with anger, it would have made me angrier, I would have made your life hell before she came along."

"Thank you Bella." Sam smiled through his pained eyes.

"Bella, I'm sorry about earlier." Embry muttered when the conversation relaxed.

"You were following orders." I shrugged.

"Does that mean you will forgive Jacob as well? He was also following orders." Embry's voice was tense, it showed his concern for his best friend.

"Sam, be honest with me," I said evenly, "Did you put the words in his mouth? Did you tell him what to say?"

"No, the words were his choice, I just told him to end your friendship for your sake."

"In that case, Jacob Black can go to hell." I stood and turned on my heel, heading for my room. "I trust that you can find the door, it's the one you destroyed."

Sam POV-

I was stunned to see Isabella leave. I thought for sure her concern for others would cause her to instantly forgive Jacob for his harsh words. My heart ached for him, he'd lost a good friend in that woman, and it was all my fault. I turned to find Leah staring at me, her eyes hostile with anger.

"Jacob truly hurt her with his words. Those monsters left her behind, told her she didn't belong, told her she wasn't worth it. They left her, cut her strings, that's what she says. Then Jacob swore to be there, to never hurt her, and he hurt her worse than they did." Her voice was steel as she spoke of the only people she could be speaking about.

"The Cullens." I muttered. My gaze wandered over to the stairs, "I'm truly sorry for all the trouble I've caused in everyone's lives, I only wish there was something I could do."

"She is my sister, Seth's sister. She's found a place with us where she will always belong, we'll never turn her away, no matter what you tell us." She growled.

"Seth said something very similar, told us you were coming here. I was scared for her safety, but now I can see she can handle herself. It's odd though, she smells completely human." I observed.

"She smells wonderful!" Embry smiled.

"We'll be having a bonfire to welcome you and your brother into the pack tomorrow night. I'm going to speak to the elders after I leave here and I'm sure they will be inviting Bella into the pack as well, it was the way of the legends for our kind and hers."

"Go on, speak with them now, I'll work on fixing the door." Leah sighed, heading for the basement, I assumed it was for supplies.

"I'll help." Embry smiled kindly.

"Thanks you two, come to Emily's in the morning, bring Isabella." I stood and walked out of the house. I hit the trees and phased immediately, I knew there was a council meeting being held to discuss Leah's phase, she shouldn't have done it, she was a female! I was just so relieved to have everything out in the open, and I had to admit I was truly grateful for Isabella Swan's interference. I would have probably screwed everything up because of my confusion and anger, it was because of her that Leah was able to look at me with something other than disgust or hatred. My heart thundered unevenly with the force of the relief I felt, there was hope after all.

I arrived outside the council building and phased back, throwing my jeans on hurriedly and rushing through the doors so quickly that when I got inside, I skidded to a halt. "Something's happened!" I gasped, trying to even out my breathing.

"Sam?" Billy called, "What is it?"

"Legend. The legends, I need the book!" I went to where it was kept and started turning page after page after page until finally I found it. The legend of the angels. I held the book out to Billy and he took it to read through the legend.

"Why did you come in here to discuss this legend, the Angels have long gone from our allies, most of them went into hiding during the old wars. No one has heard or seen a sign for many generations." Billy continued reading as he spoke.

"They are strong and beautiful creatures, protectors like we are. Have you heard the legend of how they came to be?" He asked, then continued without being answered, "It was so very long ago, shape-shifters were at war with the cold ones, there were so many of them. When one would be killed, they would just change another, while our protectors had to be born, their monstrosities could be created. All shape shifters were in danger, the balance of good and evil was weighted heavily in favor of evil. Then one long evening, on the battlefield, something strange happened. The sky opened up, and these things began falling. They appeared to be very large birds, the only thing that could be seen were the wings, so large they obstructed the view of the rest of the creatures. There were hundreds, just on that one battleground, and I'm sure they were sent everywhere that war was being waged. They didn't speak, they just stood behind the shape-shifters.

"As the shape-shifters began to fear something sinister about these creatures, they threw themselves into the fight, aiding the side of good, the protectors. After the battle was won, they explained that the gods had sent them down, to balance the scales. The cold ones saw them as a threat and began turning their focus directly toward the angels, their leaders demanded that the angels be wiped out completely because even when the blood is compromised, if even a drop of angel blood is born in a human, they will become a full fledged Angel. But Sam, I must ask you, why this legend?"

"I've met an Angel. So have all of you." I fell to my knees with the weight of what I knew, I'd turned my pack brothers away from an ally, an innocent girl who only wanted to belong somewhere in the world. I'd done that to her, I had hurt her. I hated myself for what I had done to her.

"What are you talking about, they died out!" Quil Sr. shouted.

"No, it's not true, there is but one left behind. A girl who was hidden within the human world, given to a couple who had lost a child. They adopted her, knowing what she is, and now she's transformed, she's strong and able, she punched Embry in the face and challenged Jacob this evening. She's fiercely loyal and protective of those she loves and she loves Leah. She loves her as a sister." I told them.

"Bella?" Sue asked quietly. "You've got to be mistaken, I would have known."

"Leah already did, Isabella apparently trusted her enough to tell her some time ago and when Leah phased she ran directly to the Swan residence. She was human when she fell onto Isabella crying about what happened to Seth. Then Ms. Swan called me out on being Alpha of the pack. She smelled it."

"Then we'll welcome her into the pack with open arms, we'll do more than have the normal ceremony, tomorrow night, it will be a celebration!" Billy was beaming with pride.

"You're taking this well." Old Quil muttered.

"I've known Bella all her life, I've always suspected that something was different about her, besides it is not difficult to love the girl. She's family, we take care of family."

"Leah also made mention of the Cullens." I sighed, dreading what I was about to tell them. I frowned as the three of them instantly tensed, "She said that Bella refers to their leaving as cutting her strings. I do not understand the meaning behind it and I believe there may have been more to all of that than meets the eye."

"You think they may have forced her some how, tricked her?" Billy asked flatly.

"I suspect it, but no one can know for sure unless Bella tells them herself."

"Make the arrangements for the bonfire tomorrow, we'll all see you then, we'll puzzle out the situation with the Cullens at a later time, right now, let's focus on making our angel feel welcome." Billy said before motioning to Sue that he was ready to go.

I took my time walking home, I was so confused, so much had happened. I wasn't going to tell anyone about Bella, or what she was, so I fell into bed next to my mate and pulled her against me. "Are you that tired?" She whispered.

I gazed into her eyes, feeling the guilt hit me once more when I looked upon her beautiful face, those scars, I had done that. No matter how much I adored my Emily, I had damaged her, and though she tried not to let me see it, I saw her sadness when people looked at her with pity in their eyes. She thought the scars made her ugly. That was the reason I forced the pack to stay away form humans until they had control, I wouldn't want any of them to be as consumed by guilt as I was, I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

I fell into a fitful sleep, not even my mate could calm my ragged nerves in that moment. Having to face the two women that had been ruined at my own hand had taken every ounce of strength I had, and the fact that they had both forgiven me broke my heart. It shouldn't have been that easy for them to forgive me, hell, I wouldn't have forgiven myself.

The morning arrived and I stood pacing at my kitchen table, waiting for the pack to arrive. I'd called Leah and told her about the elders' decision, that we wanted to bring Bella into the pack as well. Leah had shrieked with joy and hung up on me in her haste to get to her sister. Most of the pack had arrived, everyone was there but Seth, Leah, and Bella, and I'd yet to tell the others that Bella would be arriving.

"Alright, guys, there is something I need to inform you of. Isabella Swan will be joining us for breakfast this morning, she will also be coming to the bonfire tonight because it is in her honor as well as the Clearwaters." I told them.

"WHAT?" Multiple voices cried in outrage.


	5. Have a Tick for Breakfast

**_First I would like to say thanks for all the great reviews I've been getting. I also want to let you in on a few things but I'm afraid I'll give too much away. There is one person from Bella's past that will be making an appearance that is very unexpected, well, maybe not as unexpected as you think. Also I wanted to touch base on Jacob, he was an ass and he will not be easily forgiven, normally Bella might be able to forgive and forget because they were just words after all. In the next chapter though, you'll find some insight into why those words hurt her so badly._**

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><p>Bella POV-<p>

I walked patiently behind Seth and Leah, they were in their wolf forms because they'd gotten into a slight spat before we left the house. The sun peeked out from behind the clouds momentarily and a reflection caught my attention. Then I smelled the death on the breeze. I turned my gaze toward the reflection, perched very high in the trees, undetected by Seth and Leah was a blonde haired leech. She instantly reminded me of Rosalie and I wanted her dead.

"You guys go on ahead, I'll catch up in a minute, I forgot something." I told them, they turned their overly expressive wolf eyes to me and both let out a whine before walking forward a ways. I set the clothes I had grabbed for them to change into once they phased back on the ground beside the tree I was behind.

I looked up at her, she hadn't even noticed my presence, she was too intently focused on the two wolves in front of me. I was able to flit backwards a few yards and expel my wings from my back. I flew just above the trees and when I was directly above her I dove down, taking her and the branch she was perched on to the ground with a thunderous bang. Leah and Seth had stopped moving ahead to watch what I was doing. When the dust settled, and they saw the vampire pinned beneath me they both let out low growls. They couldn't smell her.

"What the fuck are you?" The blonde screeched, "I have no quarrel with you, my quarrel is with the wolves! They killed my mate!" She was hysteric.

"You would be stupid to try and take them on alone if they already killed your mate." I said flatly shoving her harder into the ground and settling down on her back so she couldn't move my weight.

She wriggled and kicked but it was no use, her golden eyes reflected the sun as it peeked out once more and I frowned.

"Laurent came here as a favor to a friend, he was caught off guard, he didn't know what to expect!" Her growl was reverberating through her entire body.

I was surprised, I remembered Laurent mentioning Irina from the Denali clan. I covered my shock well as I chuckled, "You were, what, going to take them out one by one?"

"They would have never seen me coming, I'm gifted." She grumbled.

"I saw you coming, bitch!" I snarled, ripping her arm from her body. She was going to attack Seth and Leah, there was nowhere in my world where that was acceptable. Her high keening scream just furthered my anger and I ripped her other arm away from her body with ease. It was the most satisfying sound I had ever heard. I continued my work and took her legs off at the knee before finally wrapping her hair around my hand and shoving hard off of her, bringing her head along with me.

I still gripped her head in my hands, "The pack won't be happy for me intruding on them, I suppose a gift would be in order." I smirked at the two wolves watching me closely in awe and adoration, then my gaze fell on the head and my smirk turned wicked.

I set the head down long enough to gather the other pieces and set them on fire, by the time I was done, Seth and Leah had phased back and were dressed, they enveloped me in a tight hug before I grabbed the head of the blonde bitch and we continued to head to Sam's.

Sam POV-

"Seriously, what the hell are you thinking, Sam? She's human! Not only that, she's a fucking leech lover!" Paul shouted, even before phasing Paul had been very vocal about his dislike for the Chief's daughter. I wondered if it was something else entirely.

"Then I suppose I'm going to have to go and save the body parts from the fire!" A steel voice said from being Paul. We all looked up, just smelling the scent of leech. Bella threw something and it landed on Paul's breakfast plate, he let out a shriek when he realized it was a head. "Look at the eyes, wolf! Tell me what color they are."

"They're gold, an animal drinker." He muttered, ashamed of his show of fear.

"Isabella, why would you kill a golden eyes?" I asked her. "And please tell me it isn't some personal vendetta."

She turned her gaze on me, "Her name is Irina, she's a friend of theirs." She looked away as she finished, "She was here seeking revenge for the death of her mate."

"Her mate?" Jared asked quietly.

"Laurent, in the meadow, just after Black phased." Her voice betrayed no emotion, it was as if she truly didn't care, but if that were the case why wouldn't she look at us?

"The one with the dreads? I remember him." Embry nodded. "So that means-"

"It means nothing. She was laying in wait to pick you off one by one, she targeted Leah and Seth because they were alone, she had no idea I was above her, she didn't expect me." Bella interrupted. "She was gifted, none of you would have seen her coming. Leah and Seth didn't notice her scent at all and she was only about three yards away by the time I took her down."

"So, they are just pups!" Paul spat.

"You didn't even smell her until her head was in your plate, so what does that say for your skills, moron?" Leah growled.

"Leah." Bella said sharply, "Don't fight, it isn't worth it."

"You didn't kill anything," Quil argued, "You're just a human girl."

A shadow cast itself over Bella's face and she smirked. She didn't say anything, she just pretended as if Quil had said nothing. Embry had already stepped out of the way. Leah and Seth were trembling with rage. They were obviously protective over Bella. The girl simply reached out to the two of them and wrapped her hand around theirs. They stopped trembling immediately. Instead of saying anything more, Seth took a seat at the table and Leah and Bella went to speak with Emily in the kitchen. I listened to the conversation as Emily and Leah both began crying and apologizing to each other.

"You're an idiot!" Embry said in a low voice to Quil, then added nothing more.

"He may be an idiot, but he's right, she's nothing more than a human girl who isn't worth our time. She can't possibly belong around a group of monsters." I put my hand over my face at Paul's words.

Seth was trembling violently, "Paul, get outside, NOW!" He bellowed.

"Fuck you, pup!"

"Paul, outside!" I growled in my Alpha tenor.

"B, they're going to fight." Leah growled from the other room.

"Fucker won't lay a hand on baby brother, no worries." Bella's voice was low, dangerous. "Emily," She said cheerfully, "please forgive me, but there is something I have to do."

"It's fine, Bella." I could tell by the sound of Emily's voice that she was already taken with Bella, of course, it didn't take much. I already felt myself caring about her and swelling with pride that she'd taken out an enemy.

Seth and Paul were out back and everyone had spilled into the yard to watch the fight. We knew that Seth was inexperienced, but he was mad as hell, I knew I should have put a stop to it, but I was morbidly curious as to how it would turn out. They were both shaking, trying to hold back their wolves, I knew from the murderous look on Seth's face that he wanted to be a man and wrap human hands around Paul's throat.

"You will never speak of Isabella in that manner again you worthless piece of scum!" Seth growled.

"I'll talk about the leech lover however I please, pup."

"Why do you treat people this way?" Seth growled. By this point, Bella was standing in front of Seth with her back to Paul, knowing Paul, it wasn't a wise move.

"Seth, this is nonsense, I can handle it on my own." Bella told him.

"But I love you and he said-"

"I heard what he said, I don't care. Paul doesn't matter, not to you, not to me. Paul's opinion doesn't matter to anyone!" She growled, "He doesn't show any respect for anyone else, so no one really cares about what he has to say."

She had to know that what she was saying would hurt Paul, and the way he reacted to pain was anger. She had to know that calming Seth would only serve to infuriate Paul more, she had to know! The girl wasn't even looking at Seth anymore, her mouth was turned in a twisted little smirk as the hurtful things rolled from her tongue. Paul was vibrating, he didn't want to hurt a human, but she was truly making him angry. We all watched, dumbfounded, as he lost control and phased.

"I wouldn't if I were you, Paul." Bella said, standing, but keeping her back to him.

"She's right you know, you ARE worthless!" Seth growled, stepping between Paul and Bella.

Paul lunged, Seth began shaking, Bella quickly pulled Seth out of the way, throwing him backwards where he fell on his ass. "You'll kindly keep your paws off my little brother!" She spat, not looking at Paul.

He growled, then lunged for the girl this time. He nearly found purchase, but too quickly she dodged and went around him, taking him to the ground as she went by wrapping her arms around his neck and throwing her body weight into it. She held him there for a moment while he thrashed and tried to get at her. She did the most unexpected thing ever, she gently scratched behind his ears, then drew her fingers up as if she was pinching his ear. When she reached the tip and squeezed gently, Paul yelped and phased back, as if he'd had no control over the matter. So Bella was lying on top of Paul, and Paul was very naked. Bella released him and stood as if none of it was unexpected, as if none of it bothered her.

Even in her anger she did the unexpected, Paul was beet red with embarrassment, he didn't want the girls to see him naked, there were scars on his back that he didn't want anyone to see, he was the only one of us to wear a shirt as often as possible. Bella turned her back to him, sitting on the ground between him and the rest of the group, then a look of sadness washed over her and wings burst from her back. She was covering him so none of us could see.

"Seth, could you please get Paul some shorts and a shirt?" She nearly whispered.

"Fuck no! The asshole can suffer after what he said about you."

"Seth, for me?" She looked up at him and the boy lost his nerve, then he ducked into the house and came out with what she had asked for and handed it directly to her. She turned just enough to put the clothes within Paul's reach and waited until he was dressed to move. She stood silently and those wings trembled and shrank down until they were nothing more than markings on her back. She walked past us into the house, only sparing a glance at a shell shocked looking Quil, "Never judge a book by the cover." She muttered. Then she turned to look at Paul over her shoulder, "The next time you take a swipe at someone I count as a sibling, I will not be so nice."

The others went inside, leaving Paul standing in the middle of the yard staring at the house. Embry brought out the leeches head and threw it in the fire pit to set to flame. Then he went back inside. Paul still stood there with this stunned look on his face.

"She hates me, and even though she does, she still helped me hide. Why would she do that?"

"She's a good woman, Paul, she doesn't judge on first glance. She sees you in how you treat others." I shrugged and ushered him inside with the others.

"Emily, I can't hold it in any longer, you are so beautiful!" Bella sighed happily from the kitchen when we got inside. It was as if nothing had happened. "It's really not fair at all."

I could practically hear Emily blush and it made me smile, "Thanks Bella." She whispered.

"I want to apologize to her, but I don't know how." Paul said just above a breath so no one would hear him but me.

"That's it!" Jacob growled, standing up and stomping into the kitchen. "Bells can I talk to you for a minute?"

"No." She stated simply, "I have nothing to say to you Black, leave me alone."

"I just want to apologize!" He cried.

"I don't care. You're a liar anyhow, why would I trust anything you said to me after all the promises you broke?"

"But Sam made me!" He growled, I did too, he was trying to pin all the blame on me.

There was a sound so loud it shook the house, I stepped into the kitchen to investigate and Bella had Jake pinned against a wall with her hand clutched around his throat. "I've already discussed this matter with Sam. He did not choose your words for you."

"HE'S LYING!" Jacob bellowed. A growl slipped out between my teeth.

"For once in your life, take responsibility for your actions! Grow the fuck up!" She released him and he limply slid to the floor, staring up at her while she looked down, looked through him. "You broke me, just like you broke your promises. You bring nothing but destruction to my life. Jacob, you were my air, my sunshine, and you broke me. Worse than he did," She paused and I saw a tear fall from her chin, "worse than that tick!" She spun on her heel and ran outside. Jacob just sat there with his face frozen in shock and horror.

"She said, I can't believe she said-" He couldn't even finish the sentence.

"Bella!" Leah shouted, running to catch up to her, I caught up and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Let me." I whispered.

"Find her Sam, find her and fix this!" It was the first time I'd seen Leah cry for another's sake. Her eyes were streaming, twin rivers of pain, for her sister.


	6. This Doesn't Belong

So I decided to give you guys another chapter today, this one is short, but it serves a great purpose.

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><p>Sam POV-<p>

I nodded once and raced into the forest, following the scent of honeysuckle and rain, Bella's scent. It stopped near the beach, where all the tide pools were and I shouted out a curse.

"I didn't expect it to be you." A quiet voice whispered. I heard the air shifting and she dropped to the ground beside me. "I knew someone would follow, never would I expect it to be you."

"I was worried, are you alright?" I panted, allowing myself a moment to breath, to collect myself.

"Come here." She said, pulling me by the hand over to the tide pools, she fell to her knees and pointed into the one closest to us. An eel that had gotten trapped weaved through the rocks and the smaller animals. "That doesn't belong there." Her voice was distant, I fell to my knees to sit beside her.

"This pool, it is another world from the ocean. It's so small, closed off. Only when the tide rises do the world of this pool and the world of the ocean touch. The creatures that have made this tide pool their home don't even notice, but the eel, the eel knows better." She pointed to a starfish, "That starfish is completely content in it's tiny world, it's comfortable, it belongs. The eel is restless, it wants to belong but it doesn't, it wants to return home, where it belongs. There are many more eels in the ocean." Her tone made me want to cry, no one had ever touched my heart that way, not even Emily.

"What are you getting at Isabella?"

She looked up then, her eyes filled with unshed tears, her heart broken and laying bare for the world to see. It was an expression one would not willingly share with the world around them. It was the vulnerability that everyone fears will be discovered, the pain and hurt of one's past. Her heart was shattered, and she was displaying it to me. My own heart clenched at the thought.

"I'm not the starfish." She whispered, "There are many of those as well, it belongs there." Her tears spilled over and she pointed back to the eel, "I'm not the eel either, it belongs in the ocean."

"Isabella?" I gasped quietly from the pain in her voice.

She reached out and touched the water, it went completely white, like paper, I could no longer see the animals swimming or skittering about. After the white, it went black and I could see the image of trees, then a face, a face I hated with every fiber of my being.

"My family and I are leaving. You don't belong in our world. I don't want you." His voice was cold, heartless.

I looked to the woman sitting at my side, there was a sad smile upon her lips, the tears continued to fall. The image changed, the background was Billy Black's house. Jacob stood there, his expression hard and angry. His voice held venom and hate as he told her, "Leave and don't come back. You don't belong here!"

Then it was Paul in my dining room. "She's nothing more than a human girl who isn't worth our time. She can't possibly belong around a group of monsters."

Once again the image changed, white, words scrolled across the image:

_**No one of her own kind to share it with.**_

After that the image faded and the tide pool returned to normal. Loneliness. She was so lonely, so out of place, she felt there was nowhere to belong. It didn't help matters that three people who had been so important to her life spelled it out for her, along with one she barely knew. Alone, she felt utterly alone.

"Isabella." I whispered, trying to find the words to comfort her.

"It's just pretend. Leah and Seth, it's just pretend. I love them, they love me, yes. It is only temporary though. I don't belong any-"

I cut her off by grabbing her wrist and pulling her to me roughly. She fell against my chest and broke into sobs instantly, but she let me hold her, she allowed me to comfort her. The words floated out of my mouth without the conscious thought to say them, my wolf was the one speaking them.

"Little sister, you belong. You belong by my side, with your wolves, with your pack." I hugged her a little tighter as the words escaped me. My wolf claimed her, loved her, she was ours. She belonged with us.

"Sam." She whispered. Her arms wound around my waist and she hugged me just as tightly as I held her, I felt her tears against my chest, but I said nothing. Nothing more needed to be said. I allowed her the freedom to cry for awhile. She fell back a bit and her hand dipped back into the pool. "Will it always be you, will it always be you who finds me?" She whispered.

I looked down to her hand in the pool, the image changed back to that night, the first time I had ever met Isabella Swan. I had pulled her into my arms from the cold and wet forest floor. I'd cradled her to me with care, even then I cared for the broken girl. How had I never noticed it before? How had I never seen that she was family? How had I missed it? Why did I not realize she was ours?

"Sam, will you always be the one to find me?" She sobbed, "Will you, brother?"

"Always, Isabella. Always." I promised her.

Her grip weakened and she fell limp in my arms, I was concerned and nearly panicked. Then, I realized she had simply fallen asleep. The relief I felt when I realized she was safe threw me for a loop. In the span of a few moments, the small woman had come to mean so much to me. Emily was my universe, but Isabella had become my world. I situated her gently so that I could carry her home while she slept.

As I walked, I noticed the sudden anger that filled me toward Jacob, the hatred toward the leech had intensified as well. They had hurt her and I wanted to make them pay. She mattered, she belonged, she belonged with me, by my side always. My wolf growled his agreement, for once we wanted to fight for the same reason. Isabella was bringing about change and she didn't even have a clue.

When my feet touched my back yard, Leah was by my side in a flash. She took in the sight and sighed in relief, but then she met my eyes and her expression became one of pure and utter shock.

"I've never seen you cry like that. Not out of relief." She whispered before smiling sadly to herself. She took the sleeping girl from my arms and took her inside, I reached up my hand and sure enough, it came away from my face wet. I fell to my knees in surprise. I'd not even noticed I cried.

A soft hand landed on my shoulder, "She's really something, isn't she?" Emily smiled, kneeling before me and wiping away the rest of my tears. "Without even trying, she changes things."

"That she does." I agreed, letting my mate pull me to my feet and drag me into the house.


	7. Psycho Housewife

**_Just wanted to thank you guys for all the reviews! You guys are awesome and I'm glad you like it so far. Enjoy!_**

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><p><strong>Sam POV- <strong>

I walked into the dining room, where everyone had sat back down. Jacob was looking miserable, but my wolf didn't think it was enough. I leveled my gaze with his and growled.

"There are two problems I have with you, can you guess what they are?" I said in an even voice.

"Fuck you Sam, I'm not in the mood to deal with your shit!" He bit back.

I grabbed something from behind me, not caring what it was and launched it across the table. It connected with his face so hard that it knocked him to the ground, my dining chair broke apart beneath his frame.

"SAMUEL!" Emily snapped, causing me to whip around to look at her. "The next time you yank my cast iron skillet off the counter to throw it across the room, it better not be aimed at anyone!" She seethed, "And please refrain from breaking the furniture."

I could feel Jacob's tremors in the floorboards, so I didn't have to look away from Emily as I ordered him, "Get the hell outside, calm down then go to the beach to start setting up."

He walked out and I turned to my other brothers. Each of them had a smirk or an amused glint in their eye as they stared at the back door. I walked around the table to pick up the skillet and the broken pieces of the chair. "Sorry Emily." I sighed.

"Let's just get down there and get everything set up." Emily frowned, "I don't want anymore fighting tonight, please boys, behave."

"How do you expect us to behave when Sam goes all psycho housewife and tried to murder someone with a skillet?" Jared snickered.

"Jared." I warned, lifting the skillet in a teasing manner.

He put his hands in the air, palms facing me, "Sorry dude." He chuckled.

"Alright, everyone head on down and carry what you can." I told them, noticing that Paul was in the guest room with Bella. I stepped just inside the doorway and he didn't even notice my presence, he was just watching her, staring at her like he was trying to see through her. I had no idea what it meant, but I would talk to him about it later. I knew he wouldn't hurt her, so I left with the others to prepare.

**Paul POV-**

She hated me and she showed me kindness. The things I'd said to her, the things that hurt her feelings, I deserved what she said. She didn't hit me, she didn't strike me, she only put me in my place. I wanted to apologize, I wanted to speak with her, but Jacob ruined the moment.

She ran off and my wolf paced inside me with worry. She was too far away, she was going too far away! I needed to make amends. I was expecting Leah to chase her down, hell I even expected Jacob to do it, but it had been Sam. Sam had chased her down.

As soon as he disappeared in the tree line Jacob broke down. "What have I done?" He had cried.

No one tried to comfort him, we were all watching the tree line, waiting for Sam to return with the girl. Emily continued cooking for the bonfire, I wondered idly if she ever stopped working for any reason. The thought passed when Leah raced past me toward the trees.

I didn't hear what was being said between Sam and Leah, but I continued to watch as Leah collected the girl and brought her inside. The look on Sam's face as she was pulled away, loss, he was hurting because she was taken away, but it seemed that he didn't realize it himself. What was this girl doing to our world?

I wondered what had happened between the two of them, what had been said? Who had been the one to do the talking. Why had she fallen asleep? Question after question burst forward in my mind. I shook my head to clear the thoughts and found myself staring at Leah as she placed the girl on the guest bed to rest.

As soon as Leah left the room, she began to stir, to move in her sleep.

"Always?" She asked sleepily, "Always finding me."

I was drawn into the room by that voice, so raw, so pained, unguarded. That was why I was sitting on the bed, I had leaned down to hear her better, to look at her face. She really was very beautiful. Even when her hair had been brown I'd thought she was gorgeous, when I'd seen her in passing before I phased. I always saw her with a distant look on her face, and I always wondered. Is she happy? Is she loved? Does she need something? Is she lonely? Does she miss someone?

She'd always haunted me, always in the back of my mind, I thought of her often. It was one thing, one instant that changed everything. I was twelve, she had to be around ten. I was in the hospital with a broken arm and bandages all down my back. We'd been put in the same room overnight. She'd hit her head when falling off of her bike and they wanted to keep her over night to keep watch. It stormed violently that night and she cried in fear. I'd known her before then, even felt love for her, but it was that night that made my heart stutter.

"It'll pass." I had whispered to her. She had opened those huge brown eyes and looked at me, they were full to the brim with tears. "The storm." I told her.

"Thank you." She had sniffled, snuggling down into her blankets and finally falling asleep.

Her father came in early that morning to collect her when she was released, he'd gone down to get the car and she turned to look at me with those fucking eyes. They were searching, always searching for something within my own gaze. Her eyes slid to the edge of the bandages on my back, then to my arm, and they filled with tears once more. It was as if she knew what had happened, but it was impossible, no one knew.

Her father returned to the room and she broke our eye contact for a moment to look at him, then she was at my side. She leaned down and whispered to me, the four words that broke me forever. "This pain, it'll pass." After saying those words she skipped over to her father and took his hand, then she left.

She left, just like that. She had ruined me, and then she left. Her words gave me the strength, the next time that bastard tried to put me in the hospital, he went in my stead. The night she ruined me, he'd killed my mother, I had no one else. The police came, Chief Swan was still an officer then. He was the only one that believed me, that it was self defense, he saw my scars. He had thrown the bastard in jail as soon as he was well enough, and I was lucky enough to be taken in by my best friend's mother. She wasn't my mother though, she wasn't that girl who had given me strength after knowing me only in passing, she couldn't help me control my anger.

I began to hate that girl, to say something so ridiculous and to just leave. She left me with so many questions. I'd passed her in the store or on the beach before then, but we had never really spoken. I hated her so deeply, and the only reason, the only reason I hated her, was that I loved her. I had been in love with Isabella Swan since that day, the day she gave me the strength to fight back against the monster that murdered my mother. To fight off the beast that hurt me again and again. So after that day, she haunted me, those huge brown eyes, always in the back of my mind. Though it hadn't been the first time I realized I cared about her.

"Paul." I was dragged back to the present by that very girl, she had woken.

I looked up to meet her eyes and gravity shifted, the world shifted, I was hers, I was forever hers. I sighed, hadn't that always been the case? I wanted to know her, but I never thought I was good enough. Then she left, and shortly after she returned, I phased. The wolf kept me from her because I was a monster, I wasn't good enough. There it was though, my wolf told me, we were hers. I wanted to laugh and cry and scream until my throat was raw.

"Paul?" Her voice was soft, quiet from sleep.

"I, uh, came to apologize," I sighed, turning my back to her and swallowing thickly, "for earlier."

I heard her moving around, felt the bed move as she stood from it. "It's fine, Paul." She whispered, "I didn't mean what I said about you either." Her hand brushed my shoulder as she walked out of the room, luckily it had only been a light touch and then it was gone, or else she would have felt me shudder. I stared after her, just like that she had forgiven me. Was it really so simple?

I felt sick because I didn't go after her immediately, but I couldn't. I wasn't good enough for her, no one was good enough for an angel like her.

**Bella POV-**

I stepped out of the guest room with a suddenly very docile Paul Meraz. So much had changed so suddenly and the ache I had ignored in my heart had returned. I felt alone, in a world where none like me existed. Truthfully, that morning my anger had been misguided. I had taken it out on the wolves when really, it was the Cullens that deserved it. My hatred for them roared to the surface. It was seeing Paul's scars that reminded me, I shouldn't have been cruel to him, he had truly done nothing wrong, his words hadn't even registered with me, they were only words, I knew he didn't mean them.

There was something so familiar about him, but I could never place it, I could never place where I had seen him before. I knew I had seen him in passing as a child, but there was something about him, as if something pivotal had occurred and it involved him, I just couldn't place the memory. Rather, I couldn't find it.

I was completely exhausted, there were very few gifts that I had, and in the forest, I had used the most tiring one. Showing my memories, it took a lot of strength. It's easier on a solid surface, but still difficult, liquid is twice as difficult. It had taken everything out of me to share on a liquid surface.

I shook the thoughts away and stretched before looking around. Everyone else seemed to be gone. "They are preparing the bonfire tonight to welcome you and the cubs to the pack." Paul informed me from the doorway of the guest room.

"Welcome me?" I whispered, could it mean that Sam had spoken the truth, I'd found somewhere to belong?

"Yeah." Paul chuckled, "It's where you belong."

"Leah was supposed to, ah-" I cut off when I found the clothes set out for me. There was a long white cotton skirt and a red backless halter, it was perfect along with the sandals she'd grabbed. She insisted I dress up for her bonfire, told me it would make her feel more comfortable.

"You can go on to the beach if you like, Paul. I'm going to change and then I'll head down."

"Are you okay?" He met my eyes again, he looked conflicted about something. I wanted to go to him, to comfort him, but I couldn't. "Jacob?"

"I'll be fine." I told him.

"Do you want to walk down together?" He asked, causing me to turn to face him abruptly.

"Sure, I'll be just a minute." I smiled, rushing into the guest room and closing the door so I could change.

When I was dressed, I stepped out of the room and Paul smiled, "You actually look nice."

"Thanks." I smiled, rolling my eyes.

We fell into silence on the walk down, neither of us spoke a word. I couldn't speak for Paul, but I was deep in thought. There was nothing I could say, my thoughts had to be sorted first. So much had happened, so much had changed, could it mean that I belonged somewhere? Could it mean that I was not as alone in the world as I thought? In that moment I wished for my birth mother, I needed more answers than she had given me. I needed something! We arrived at the beach and I found myself running, inexplicably, into Sam's arms. He chuckled and embraced me, kissing the top of my head.

"Thank you, Sam." I told him, "Thank you."

"It's nothing, Isabella, you belong here."

I looked over the group of people who had already arrived. Jacob was sporting a healing lip and from the looks of his healing bruises on his eyes, a broken nose, but I didn't question it. Instead I greeted everyone and settled in for the celebration.

The legends were told and then the elders all left to give the kids time on their own to celebrate. Leah was talking animatedly with Emily and Jared's imprint Kim, while I sat on a log and stared into the fire. Embry and Seth came to me then, falling to the ground on either side of me. Seth beamed up at me before putting his head in my lap and sighing when my fingers sank into his hair. Embry looked out toward the ocean behind me and chucked to himself.

"You missed a hell of a show today." He informed me.

"What do you mean?"

"Jacob got what was coming to him." Seth offered.

"He pissed Sam off, who was already unhappy with him. Sam threw a skillet at him and hit him in the face, broke one of the chairs too." Embry snickered.

"Emily can't have been happy about that." I frowned, looking over to the smiling woman.

"She can never stay mad at Sam for long." Embry looked off in the distance and his expression went from cheerful to concerned. I followed him gaze and landed on Sam and Paul in the distance, I couldn't hear them, but it looked like they were arguing.

"I wonder what that's about." I said.

"I don't know, Sam and Paul argue sometimes, but that looks like it's getting heated." He turned to face me again, "I'm sorry I've been such an ass."

"No worries, Embry. You really had to have been thrown for a loop."

"What did you talk about with Sam in the forest? Something changed about him between going after you and coming back."

"You showed him, didn't you?" Seth asked me, lazily opening his eyes to peer up at me. "You showed him the things that broke your heart."

"I did." I nodded, "But how did you know about that?" I asked him, ruffling his hair.

"Leah mentioned it, she never told me what she saw, just that you have some weird gift that lets you share your memories."

After that, we fell into conversation about the trivial or mundane. It was so easy to talk to Seth before he phased and that didn't change. I was quickly learning that Embry was just as easy to talk to and I was very comfortable around him. He was a good guy, not the ass that had showed up in my house making demands.

The bonfire came to an end, and we all went our separate ways, only to come together everyday at some point. I was quickly finding things I had in common with each pack member and quickly counting them among the ranks of my family, people I would die for. The month after joining the pack was filled with dinners, dragging Charlie into the fold, shopping, movies, video games, and sparring. Embry and I would often spar to let off steam, though we both held back. Quil sparred with me once, I laid him out, so he refused to play anymore. The others began teasing him about it. My life had gone from being almost empty, to having two siblings, to having an entire family of rambunctious wolves and their imprints.


	8. The Two That Were Tossed Aside

**_Hello my lovelies. There are some things I want to touch base on, first off this chapter won't have anything to do with Paul but it is a necessary evil. Not that this chapter is evil, really, but I miss Paul already. Now, about him, in some of the reviews I saw a question that I felt deserved an answer. Why doesn't Bella remember the encounter between her and Paul in the hospital? The answer is simple, there are two reasons. One, I for one don't remember a lot of when I was a kid and I don't know many people that do, and two, Bella had a family of vampires poking around in her head making them the only thing that matters to her. I'm guessing some of her memories were lost in the process, thrown out because her mind deemed them unimportant. They didn't have a thing to do with the vampires who were mind-raping her after all. Also I want to be clear, just because her shield kept her thoughts safe from being pulled out, didn't mean something couldn't have been put into her mind by the thrall._**

**_Enjoy my lovelies!_**

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><p><strong>? POV-<strong>

I jolted awake with the sudden knowledge, another Angel had awakened, the one we needed. My wife and mate turned to face me with concern evident in her features.

"What is it? What has happened?" She asked me, her eyes wide with fright.

"There's another!" I beamed.

"What are you going on about?" My brother snarled at me. "There are no more, we lost! There aren't ever going to be more, it's only the three of us, we are all that remains."

I gazed over at him with a sad smile, he had it rough. He was the only one of our kind to be caught, he hadn't known what he was of course, until he met his death. He transformed, then he was changed into one of them, a parasite, only he wasn't really like them at all. He still ate human food, still had his wings, he would not take a human life, the only changes were that his skin had turned to granite and his heart no longer had a rhythm. He only brought out his wings on occasion, and when he did, his back would break apart and it was like a boulder cracking apart. It didn't hurt him, but it was quite loud. When he drew them within himself they were like scars, burn marks in the shape of his wings, it was the taint in his blood, the war of good versus evil raging inside him. He fit nowhere. He could no longer cry, no longer shed tears, he had become a monstrosity, my wife cried for him, I cried for him. We felt he belonged with us, but he tended to disagree.

"You know nothing, I know there is another. I also know where she is." I smirked at him, "Brother dear, do not fret. She may accept you as we do."

"No one accepts me." He sneered. "It's all just whistles and bells until it all falls apart. I'll be surprised if she doesn't take my head the moment we meet."

I sighed heavily, he was in so much pain, always suffering, always brooding. He was in love, but she'd broken his heart, left him for another. She was not his mate. She was a vampire, he thought he would be accepted by her, she had approached him so easily, but she didn't know what he truly was, she didn't know how damned he truly was. And she used him. A means to an end, a way to get what she needed. She had pushed the lies on him so convincingly that he followed like the hopeless romantic that he was.

"Brother, we have to seek her out, she must be one of the three, since my darling wife is not." There was a legend among our kind, when our ranks were down, there would be three who would bring it to an end, three that would save our race and bring it back into fruition. I was one of the three, my brother was the second, we only needed the third. "We have to."

"I think you are just tired of playing the part of a vampire." He chuckled bitterly.

His words were true, my wife and I, we had been playing a part. Our eyes were bright sapphire blue and we dyed our hair with a special dye that I created myself. We wore contacts to hide our eyes from Vampires, they were too dense to notice, those contacts were special too. Painful to put in, but there were no seams. We didn't carry venom so they never disintegrated. My brother wore contacts as well, to hide his bright lavender eyes. They had once been blue as well, but when he was bitten, they mixed colors. We didn't venture around others often, so no one had time to catch on. But my brother, he was around them often, and he played the part well. They believed he drank blood, when truly he ate the same things my wife and I did, human food. He never truly tasted blood. No one ever noticed that we didn't hunt animals or humans, we preferred to "hunt" alone.

Out of the three of us, he was the only one without a heartbeat, he was truly dead, but he was glad that he didn't have to kill others to continue living, My wife and I were talented, I could mask our scents, she could mute our heartbeats and warmth. The vampires had no idea that there were angels in their midst.

"Come on brother, she's waiting. Who knows maybe you'll find your true mate." I smiled at him encouragingly, but he just snorted and turned away. I leaned back against the headboard and stared at the ceiling, she was all alone, no doubt believing the rest of her kind to be dead. Her angel had just awakened, so she would have no one there to support her, to answer her questions. I wondered who she was, I wondered what she looked like, I wondered- No, I wouldn't think of that.

"Do you really think she would have the gift of sharing?" His voice was rough and hesitant. "Only the kindest of the angels would have the gift of sharing, and that gift only comes with the other talent, the one I won't dare mention." His eyes flashed something, hope, if we found the angel with the gift of sharing, her other gift could benefit him a great deal.

"Regardless, she needs us, she is alone in the world, she must feel so lonely." I sighed. There was no blood bond between the two of us, I had discovered him after he had been changed, when my wife and I first infiltrated the monsters. We became close and he was my brother in every sense of the word, except blood. I had left my parents so long before that day. I often wondered what happened to them, had it been painful when they died? I needed my brother, I wouldn't have survived so long without him, the vampires have mostly forgotten our kind, they believe they won, that they destroyed all of us.

"Fine, where are we going to meet with this one?" He asked, standing to go and pack his things.

"You're familiar with the area, somewhere in Washington." I told him. His eyes widened and he turned completely to face me, "I can't go back there."

"You don't have a choice." I told him, "I'm dragging you with me. I need you in this brother."

"But she thinks I- I-" He was frozen. "She thinks-"

"We'll be sure to avoid her then." I shrugged, "No trouble at all." I was being honest, as far as I knew, but then I knew I was wrong. Regardless, we had to go. I stood to ready myself and pack my things. Things were about to get very interesting indeed.

**Bella's POV-**

After my becoming close with everyone in the pack, there were two new additions. Collin and Brady were twins and they were only fourteen when they phased. They had panicked and Sam couldn't calm them so I'd had to step in and help. That whole first week before their bonfire, they clung to me so I could help them keep control. I came to adore the boys immediately and they looked at me like a mom. They'd never known their real mom and lived with their ailing grandmother, I happily gave my boys the support and love I had to offer them. We quickly fell into a comfortable place with each other.

We had the bonfire for the boys and everything went smoothly. The legends were told, even a few very short ones about the angels, but none of them held the information I needed. The elders and Charlie, who had somehow been dragged into things again by Sue, went home to allow the younger generation to have a good night.

My eyes watched the flickering flames as they began to die out. Embry had gone to get more firewood and would return to stoke the fire. I tore my gaze away from the embers and looked to the star filled sky, then a strange feeling washed over me. I felt the need to look up at the cliffs where I'd once seen the pack cliff diving. There was someone standing there, a woman. I frowned to myself and stood, feeling the pull in her direction.

"B?" Leah questioned.

"I'll be right back, okay?" I said, walking over to the road that led up to the cliff. I was sure I recognized the girl, but it couldn't be, could it?

She was staring out over the water, her eyes filled with tears and pain. Was she thinking of jumping? She had changed so much! Her hair had grown out a lot, past her waist, it was black, had she dyed it or had it darkened naturally? She wore a snug fitting sweater and rolled her shoulders uncomfortably. Her changes reminded me of my own changes. I was stunned.

"There is nothing to see, nothing at all." Her voice held the same battle that waged within her eyes, between anger and sorrow. Something clicked together then, she had heard me approach, which was impossible, the wolves wouldn't have even heard me. "Leave me alone."

"Ang?" I asked quietly, she turned to face me and we both gasped at the same time, her eyes, they were so striking, so very blue and her glasses were gone. "Angela, are you okay?" I asked her.

"Bella!" She gasped, "I haven't seen you since you left school, I've been wondering what- you've changed so much!" Her eyes darted from place to place, cataloguing my changes.

"Ang, sit down and tell me what happened." I ordered, sitting down and hanging my legs off the edge of the cliff. Something seriously bad had happened to her. I was not normally one to pry, but I needed to know. I had never seen her so upset. Angela had been a good friend to me, if I could return the favor, I definitely would.

"I-" She stopped and wiped away tears, "So much has happened since we last spoke. I've been concerned about you. I worried so much that I drove Ben away. He broke my heart, Bella."

I sighed, hoping that was all that had hurt her. "I'm sorry to hear it Ang."

"That's not it though. After he and I split, I started dating Tyler, we were only together for a short time, but I fell for him too quickly and he broke up with me. It hurt me worse than with Ben. This pain shot through me, it was so strange. I walked home, forgetting completely that I had driven to his house, that my car was parked out front. I just walked away from him. I was in the middle of town and a woman bumped into me, she was so cold, and her eyes were the same color as the Cullens, that strange gold color, you know? And she stank to high heaven, this sickly sweet smell, like rotted meat."

"Yeah?" I asked her, becoming more concerned as she spoke.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to bring the Cul-"

"Just finish telling me what's wrong."

"The pain got worse so I ran home and went to my room!" She looked at me in panic, and abruptly changed what she was going to say, "Something happened. Something very strange, it's a secret I think. I didn't know what to do, so I hid it. I was able to hide it all this week, it only happened on Friday. I started feeling restless this morning, and my parents were gone, so I thought I was safe. My m-m-mom came home though, she found me. She called me names, she told me to get out of her house and to never return. I asked her how she could turn her own child away, she started crying. She told me I was not her child, I had been adopted because they thought they couldn't have children. I'd been an anonymous child that they chose because I looked like her, she wanted that more than anything, a child that looked like her. She told me to get out of her house, that I was no longer welcome there. I knew my father wouldn't believe her, so she called him home straight away and he saw me, he too forced me out."

I knew exactly what that "something" had been. Through her explanation, I was hit with a sudden startling sense of clarity. Angela was like me, I wasn't alone, there was another. She was holding me, sobbing into my shoulder uncontrollably. I was at a complete loss for words. I knew in my heart what had happened, but I didn't know what to tell her. I was also wondering how it was people kept coming to me for support, was it fate? Was it suddenly my purpose to help others? I'd always been willing to help the people I cared about, I figured that would continue easily. I just had no idea so many people would suddenly need me.

"Bella, I have nowhere to go, I have nowhere I belong. I'm a freak, a monster, I don't even know what I am! And you, you think I'm crazy!" She screamed.

"Ang, what do you mean that you're a freak?" I asked her, pretending I didn't know what she meant, I needed to see for myself. "Can you show me?"

"I- I- I can't! You'll turn on me too!"

"Angela? Are-" I struggled to phrase the question right, though I was certain of the answer already. "Are you human?"

She looked at me with terror shining bright in her eyes, she was frantic, "You're so kind, you won't tell anyone? Please Bella! They'll lock me away and perform experiments!"

"Would you please just answer the question Angela?" I asked.

"I'm ashamed of what I've become." She told me, "It's so ironic, I used to ask mother how she came to choose my name, she told me that when she held me for the first time that I looked so much like an Angel, that was how she chose my name. But now-"

"Angela, please, may I see your back?" I asked her.

"My-" She began to back away from me, "How would you-"

"Relax, it's okay, I promise." I whispered, pulling her into a hug and lifting the hem of her shirt a bit so I could see her lower back. There it was, all the proof I needed, the edges of the image of wings. She sobbed harder into my shoulder, "You should really start wearing backless shirts, Ang, they are so much more comfortable, much less confining."

"Wha- What do you-" I cut her off with a finger to her lips and I glanced around, no one was there so I knew I could show her.

My wings came out so abruptly that Angela screamed, then her eyes grew larger than the moon and she threw herself into my lap, sobbing heavily.

"I'm not alone! I'm not the only one!" She cried.

"No, Ang. You're not alone." I drew my wings back into myself and pulled her to her feet along with me as I stood. "And now, neither am I. Come on, let's get some food in your belly. Then you'll come and stay at Charlie's house with me for the night. We'll figure something out tomorrow." I knew my decision was the right one, I would take care of Angela, another sister added to my ranks. She needed people to love her while knowing what she was. I couldn't stand the heartbreak evident in her eyes, and honestly I wanted to go and smack the Webers. Angela had been the perfect daughter, then something happens to her and they toss her out, bastards.

"I don't want to be any trouble."

"The only trouble would be being the only one of my kind. We're supposed to be extinct, but it seems some others had the same idea my mother had. To hide you. Your birth parents did the one thing that saved your life, Angela, they loved you very much. They died to protect you and I'm not about to let them die in vain. I'll help you, I'm glad to, you're family to me now." I smiled, then swiped at a tear streaming down her cheek. "Come on now, dry your tears, there's no more reason to cry, you've lost some things tonight, but you've gained something else entirely. I'll explain more later, but you've gained a whole family, not just me. You can be yourself and no one will look at you like you're a monster."

"What do you mean?" She sniffled. I pointed to where the others were, far away on the beach, a few of them were watching us, Leah, Seth, and Sam for sure, and I got the feeling someone else was, but none of the other faces were looking toward us that I could tell.

"Do you see the fire? The people around it?" I asked her.

"Yes. They are from the reservation, all of them."

"They are my family, and soon, they'll be yours as well."

"They know, they know and they accept you?"

"They are special themselves, not bad, not monsters, but very special. Come with me while I say goodbye, then we'll go to Charlie's." I smiled, tugging her along with me.

I came up to the wolves with her being dragged behind me, she inhaled deeply and a little squeak escaped her. I smiled to myself, knowing I would have to convince her that they weren't a threat. Though I'd gleaned little information about what I was, I knew a lot more than she did. I realized how lucky I really was and a little more weight came off of me then. I was still reeling from my sudden clarity though.

"Bella? What's going on? Who is this?" Sam asked worriedly. I smiled and shook my head, he was acting like an over protective big brother.

"This is Angela, she's had a really upsetting day, so I'm going to take her to my house and help her to feel better. I'm also going to let her borrow some more comfortable clothes until I can take her shopping tomorrow. You in Leah, Emily? Kim I know we haven't spent much time together yet, but I'd like for you to come along as well."

"What time you want us at yours?" Emily asked.

"Noon." I told her.

"We'll be there." Leah smiled turning back to her conversation with Kim.

"Bella, are you sure about this? Did I see what I thought I saw while you were up on the cliff?" Sam asked, scrutinizing Angela with suspicion.

"It looks like my kind isn't as extinct as I thought. She'll be becoming a part of the family if that is alright." I told him, his eyes widened and he looked her over once more.

"She does have many of the same characteristics, but Bella, are you sure?"

"One hundred percent." I told him, "We'll talk more tomorrow after shopping, I'll let you explain your end of things and it looks like another bonfire is in order. Also you need to head over to Billy's to speak to the elders."

"When did you become my boss?" He teased me, ruffling my hair.

"I'm just thinking very clearly at the moment. Please tell everyone else I said I will see them tomorrow. Angela has had a very long day." I waved as I dragged Angela to Emily's house and tossed her ass in my truck.

"I feel like I've just been kidnapped." She chuckled sadly.

"You have. Ang, I can't watch you hurt over something that isn't your fault, you aren't a monster. And what your mother said, that you looked like an angel, she was right." I smiled, squeezing her hand. "Never again will you fear what you are, nor will you be uncomfortable showing who you truly are. You're going to get nothing from me and the others but acceptance, Charlie too. My birth mother had the foresight to leave him a letter explaining a few things, so I at least had a place to start. And please, for my sake, don't think yourself a burden, If I had thought you would be a burden, I simply wouldn't have bothered."


	9. A Place to Be Yourself

**_Some of you may think this Chapter moves things along a little too quickly, but you gotta figure my Bella is a doer, not a sit around and wait and see type of person. Plus her mother made sure she was set up pretty good. Still focusing on the girls in this Chapter too, but again it is a necessary evil._**

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><p><strong>Bella POV-<strong>

We got to Charlie's and I helped Angela choose a different shirt, once she changed she already looked so relieved. I smiled to myself, I'd always had a connection with Ang, I felt we had so much in common, but I was shocked to find out just how much we shared when the time came. I told her everything I knew and showed her the pictures of my parents. I told her everything I could and we cried together for the parents neither of us would ever meet. In that moment we truly became sisters.

As I was falling asleep, I found myself thinking over the letter my mother left for me in the folder. I had a brother, a very long time ago. I looked over at the picture of my parents, I wondered about his death. How horrible was his demise? I also remembered something else from the folder and rushed to get it. I opened it and thumbed through the papers, the properties, the one in Forks! And by the address it was very close to La Push. The back of the picture told me where to find the key. It looked far too large to live in by myself, but maybe, maybe Angela and I could share it as well. It would of course be open to everyone all the time, I wouldn't turn my family away.

Morning came and my door burst open. Leah stood there looking unashamed and took in the sight of Angela wrapped around my torso. When I'd gone back to bed, she had broken down again. It was so much for her to take in, so much for one person to handle. She never knew about vampires, so when I'd told her she threw up. When I told her about the Cullens, she blanched and threw up again. Afterwards she spent ten minutes crying for my sake, something I had never had happen before. Then I told her we had other creatures as well, they were our allies. She asked me about the people she'd met before coming to my house, I told her Sam would explain, but they were nothing to be afraid of. She told me they smelled like wolves. I just smiled and shrugged.

"Did you tell her?" Leah asked.

"She didn't even know what she was, her parents threw her away. Of course I told her."

"She going to be okay?"

"I think with a little bit of time with the girls today, then the bonfire welcoming her tonight, she'll be just fine. I've also got a big surprise for her before the bonfire." I smiled, shaking Ang gently.

Angela had gotten into the shower and the rest of us were waiting in the living room. "She's an Angel?" Kim asked quietly, trying not to offend me.

"Yeah, she didn't understand. Now that I think about it, I got a pretty sweet deal. My dad knew all along on some level, so he knew before he loved me, and he loved me anyways. Her parents just discovered this, and they pushed her away."

"Sounds like she needs a new family." Emily beamed.

"Yeah, there's a lot of that going around these days." I laughed.

"So much has happened, how are we going to handle everything?" Leah pouted. "I mean, I phased, Seth phased, you joined the pack, then you find out a girl you went to school with is the same thing you are, which is supposed to be completely gone. Leeches just don't know how to destroy things, do they?" She laughed.

"Hey, I think I was pretty destroyed when they left." I frowned looking away, the Cullens had hurt me by leaving, that was true. But each of them, save for one, had manipulated my mind. When they left it was like I was empty, there was nothing left of me in there. Jake had begun to bring me back, then he crushed me, and it was Leah I had to thank for bringing the real me back into living color, the one that had existed before the Cullens came along.

"Do you still care for them?" Emily asked sadly.

"No, there is one that I would like to get the chance to have some sort of closure with though. He was different from the others, he didn't force any kind of connection between us, yet one developed anyways." I sighed, thinking of the only one who hadn't really manipulated me, the one who had kept his distance until my birthday. Hell, he had distanced himself from everyone in that family as well, I never once understood it.

"Ready! Let's go somewhere cheap, I don't have very much mo-"

"Stop talking, I'm buying you clothes. And you don't have a choice so don't try to argue." I beamed, Angela and I had very much in common indeed.

"Arguing with her is useless, let's get going then." Leah smirked, knowing Angela wouldn't win an argument with me. No one could.

It was so much like the first shopping trip I ever took with Leah. It was so much fun. Angela laughed so hard she cried, but she had fun too, I could tell. It was as though all the weight that had beat her down, held her down the night before, was completely erased. When we arrived back in Forks I took a detour.

"Where are we going? La Push?" Leah asked.

"Not yet." I told her turning right along the treaty line onto a nearly invisible driveway, it was the right address from the number on the mailbox. The driveway seemed to go on forever, but finally nestled in the back of the property, completely hidden from the road and obscured from any other place's view, we reached the house. It was surrounded on both sides by dense forest and everyone in the car gasped.

"I never knew there was a freaking mansion so close to La Push!" Emily squealed, "Who lives here?"

"No one yet, it's one of the properties my mother left me." I explained, "And it is hardly a mansion. It's only got seven bedrooms, nine full bathrooms, a full basement, and attic." I shrugged, removing a particular brick from the bricks that the porch was built from. It was different than the others, only someone with heightened senses would have noticed it. The key sat there, untouched for so long. I pulled it out and slid it into the lock.

"We'll need to have it inspected, an electrician and a plumber will have to take a look as well. Then I'll get the dust cleaned out and order furniture after having the utilities turned on. Once that is all set up, we can move in." I was mainly talking to myself, I turned the key and the door swung open with ease.

The house looked even more huge on the inside than it had on the outside. The bedrooms were enormous and most were on the second story. They each had their own bathroom attached and there were two guest bathrooms, one in the basement and the other on the first floor. The kitchen was so beautiful that both Emily and I cried. The dining room was also enormous.

"There's," Emily began, "There's room for everyone here, and the property, it is so big, there is so much space here! Don't even get me started on counter space."

"There's a pool too!" Leah screeched. "B, can I move in too? Please?" She pleaded even going as far as going down on her knees. I looked out the window she had been standing at a moment earlier and found what looked like a huge greenhouse, but it was actually an indoor pool in the back yard. There was so much space, how much money had my parents had, the place was better than the fucking leech mansion!

"Leah, you're my sister of course you are welcome to live here too."

"You'll never get rid of any of us, you are aware of that, right? It looks like the pool house is heated, which means swimming in winter." Kim smiled, coming back inside from the pool house. "For us lowly humans." She added with a giggle.

I just smiled indulgently, I wouldn't turn them away, my family of misfit monsters. That was what we each felt like, in our own way. I would never turn them away.

"Alright then, it's settled, no one can tell the guys about this house until it is all completely done and we are moved in. I'll take care of everything." I smiled.

That night, the pack welcomed Angela into the family and we had a bonfire. A few of them couldn't make it because they were patrolling, but she didn't mind. She got to hear the legends of the wolves, and she happily agreed to join the tribe, to be an ally, as I had before. The next morning I got in touch with the electrician, plumber, utilities company, and a pool cleaning service. After all that, I had the house inspected, I had met the man at the house.

"Everything is up to code, but I suggest you have a plumber and an-"

"I've got them coming by this afternoon to take a look and make sure everything is up to date."

"It's an amazing place, isn't it?" He smiled, "Did you grow up here?"

"No, I only just found out it was mine. My mother died when I was very young, she left it to me." Along with more money than I could get rid of if I threw it out of a blimp. I added mentally.

"Oh, well good luck then!" He beamed as he handed me the certificate I needed.

Two days later, everything was done. The pool had been cleaned and filled and I hired the company to come by once a month for upkeep. I set a specific day and time for them to arrive. The pool house was really amazing too there was a square hot tub to the side, then there was the pool itself, it was huge and heated thanks to solar panels in the roof. and there was a large tiled deck around the huge pool. Enough room for pool chairs and some tables. At the far end of the pool was what appeared to be a man made mountain, only on a smaller scale, it was where a water slide was placed along with a stone staircase to get to the top. There was even a small kitchen area where food could be stored and two changing rooms next to the towel closet. I still had stars in my eyes when I said good bye to the cleaning crew.

Leah, Angela, and I spent the following two days ordering furniture online and arranging for it to be delivered priority. I knew Charlie and the guys would love the flat screen television I bought because it was bigger than I was. While waiting for the furniture, we had a painting party to paint all the rooms. A week after I first turned that key in the lock, all of the furniture had arrived, there were king sized beds in all of the rooms, specially made of course for the extremely tall males. The three of us didn't need them that large, but we figured it was easier to have them all made the same. Every room in the house was completely set up and groceries filled the kitchen. I called the inspector back to get another look and he took photos and printed them out for me using my own printer. They were for my records as well as his. I smiled when he left because of the dazed look on his face and the fact that he had been brought to tears by the sheer beauty of the place.

Leah, Ang, and I had enlisted Kim and Emily to help us get everything we needed so it resulted in quite a few more shopping trips. We'd had to buy a washer and dryer, and stock the pool house, and buy new swimsuits, and there was much excitement between the girls. The guys were beginning to get suspicious, they were often asking us where we were disappearing to or what we were plotting. Leah had gotten out of phasing for the week because Sam couldn't deny me a request and I told him I needed her. We even stocked a walk in linen closet in the hallway with clothes in every shape-shifter's size with labels telling whose clothes were whose. We were completely stocked for wolves and I was glad to have Angela, she had suggested the special closet.

I pulled Charlie aside while Angela was packing all of her things from Charlie's to take to the new house. "Here." I told him, handing him the address and house phone number.

"What's this?" He asked me.

"It's the address to where I'll be living, I'd like to have Sunday dinners there from now on and I think we'll invite the whole family." I grinned.

"You're moving?" He asked sadly.

"Not far, I promise, I'll never be far dad."

He pulled me to him and kissed my head, "At least there is that." He chuckled.

"Tomorrow night is Sunday, the wolves are going to be there, it's when we are telling everyone else."

"I'll be there." Charlie beamed, going out to meet Billy for their fishing trip.

Charlie had actually found out about the wolves before I changed, Billy had let it slip once and Charlie overlooked it. Then Billy went to talk to him after my transformation and he just busted out laughing, telling the man he couldn't keep secrets as well as he thought he could.

Everything was packed and moved, then unpacked in our separate rooms. Emily had been such a help with color schemes. And we'd had fun when we did the painting party. The move was completely done, so the three of us that were living in the house threw ourselves on the couch in exhaustion.

"Have I told you today how much I love you, sister of mine?" Leah called happily.

"Same here!" Angela agreed, lying on her back on the seat of the couch with her legs thrown over the back, her hair spilled into the floor.

"I love the two of you as well, now, I think it is time to watch movies with hot guys, on the big screen!" I beamed.

It was the start of something beautiful, I knew that much. It was as if finding Angela to be the same as me, seeing her so terrified and alone, it had filled a hole inside myself. I was happy to see the two of them so happy. The air was electric, I could feel something good was coming, and I was happy to accept it.

In the middle of our movie, my cell phone began ringing. "Hello?" I asked.

"Bella! Bella, thank god you're okay." Sam's voice was so tired, so relieved.

"What do you mean?"

"One of them has returned, he mentioned you. I was concerned."

My blood turned to ice, one of them, he could have only meant, "The Cullens."

"I ran into him at the store, he asked if I knew you. I went straight to Charlie's and you were gone with all your things, I thought, I thought that maybe-" He cut off as if something had stuck in his throat.

"You thought I had forgiven them, that I chose to leave with them." I finished for him. Though I knew he really thought they manipulated my mind again, nope, not gonna happen with my newly super protected Angel brain.

"Please don't, we- we all care for you so much."

"No worries Sam, which one has returned?"

"I'm not sure which one he is. I don't think he's a threat though, he doesn't smell like _them._ He has others with him, I don't think they are leeches though. I wouldn't know, I can't smell them."

"What do you mean you don't think he's a threat?" I was confused, I had no fucking clue what he was talking about.

"This one is different from the other Cullens, apart somehow, he always has been."

I thought about his words and realization dawned on me. "Sam, where are you?"

"Your dad's hou-" He cut off, "He just showed up here." His voice was suddenly so tense. He may not think it's a threat, but someone was looking for me, which meant he was in overprotective big brother mode.

I could plainly hear in the background, the sound of someone knocking on the door and Sam answering. "You again." A familiar voice said quietly, "I mean her no harm, I swear it to you, I just want to speak with Isabella."

"I'll be there in a minute." I told Sam, hanging up the phone.

"Why would any of them come back?" I asked Leah, flustered.

"I don't know, are you going to be alright?" Her eyes flashed yellow and then it was gone. I had noticed since she phased that it happened anytime she grew concerned.

"I'll be fine." I sighed, taking off at lightning speed. "I'll be right back, I promise."


	10. It's Raining Angels

**_Okay, many of you have been guessing who is who from our mystery crew. You've also been guessing who will end up with who or asking me for certain pairings. Well, I already had a lot of this written out before even posting the first chapter. So I go back and revise before posting a new Chapter. Some things may not turn out the way you like, but I promise you that things will work out in the end. Now, on to find out more about our mystery crew. _**

**_Enjoy!_**

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><p><strong>Bella POV-<strong>

I raced through the back door and through the kitchen of Charlie's house. I literally skidded to a halt at the situation I discovered. Sam's heart was thundering in his chest wildly, his eyes were panicked, and fear was rolling off of him in waves. He was terrified that I would be taken away. I stepped up behind him and lay my hands on his trembling shoulders, he stilled instantly and reached a hand up to lay it on one of my own.

I turned my attention to the three parties on the couch. Two blondes, one male, one female. The two of them had no heartbeat and no scent. That was as much as I paid attention to them before turning my attention to the third person. Jasper. He was so different than I remembered him, his eyes weren't gold or red, nor were they that deep black that they would get with his hunger. His eyes were violet. I inhaled sharply and felt my eyes widen in shock, he didn't smell like a vampire. He didn't smell like death or rotted flesh like the others I'd briefly encountered had. He quirked an eyebrow at me, apparently he didn't know what I was. I also couldn't explain it, but I suddenly had an urge tickling the back of my skull, something I needed to do for him, something I needed to change. I chose to ignore it for the time being.

"Isabella." He said with relief.

I was suddenly angry and he gasped in surprise at the force of it. "What, the Cullens sent you back to take care of the trash they left behind? Or to concentrate real hard and fuck with my head some more?" I snapped.

"I have nothing to do with those vile creatures any longer. I will tell you everything if you'll just have a seat." He motioned to the empty armchair.

Before I had a chance to decide, Sam pulled me around him into his lap and secured his arms around my waist. Jasper watched this possessive display with interest, I knew he was mistakenly thinking Sam and I were mated. Though, I was sure that Sam's feelings were only brotherly toward me.

"First off, is there some message you are trying to get across?" Jasper asked Sam.

"She's ours, you aren't taking her." He growled.

"We have no intention to take her away from her life here, I just want to ask for forgiveness." Jasper turned back to me, "Isabella, the Cullens are not the type of people you believed them to be. Each and everyone of them were selfish bastards who used vampire abilities to draw you in and control you. You never loved any of them, they toyed with you. Well, actually, you did truly care for one of them and he never manipulated your mind, but all of the others did. Emmet was the only one not to manipulate you besides Rosalie and myself. Truthfully, had they never messed with your mind, you wouldn't have wanted to become one of them."

Sam tensed behind me, I put a hand behind my back on his chest, to calm him again. "I figured that one out on my own, Jasper." I said, ignoring the way his eyes widened as he registered my confession.

"I was disgusted by their behavior, I practically begged them to let you free of the thrall, but they refused. Truthfully, Isabella, most vampires can claim to love something, but love in that world is very rare. Most are just going through the motions, pretending, everything with them is false. Edward was going through the motions of loving you, he claimed you were his mate, but he only wanted you to age. He wanted you to age to a point where your blood would be the sweetest, and he would have drained you." He looked at the floor, "I was never in any danger of hurting you, I do not drink blood, but they never knew that, especially considering I took the blame a few times Alice slipped. I spent a very long time acting in that house. Sneaking off under the pretense of hunting to sleep or to eat regular food. I formed a plan to save you, Alice wouldn't have seen it because honestly she didn't see much about me, in order for my plan to come to fruition I only had to await the inevitable. I only had to wait for an accident that would cause you to bleed. I greatly apologize for the pain it caused you, but I did it for you to have your freedom. Edward left, under the pretense of keeping you safe, but I know he plans to return in the future to claim your blood for himself. He has no intention of keeping you around, though I'm sure he will use the thrall once more to convince you otherwise."

By the time he finished telling me the truth of what had happened I couldn't hold it in any longer. I burst into laughter, and everyone in the room looked at me as if I were crazy. I took a deep breath and sighed, "I'd love to see him try now. That shit won't work anymore, let him come. He can't get into my head, we'll fight, he'll lose." I smirked. "As for you, you are different." I pointed a finger at Jasper.

"I am, but that is nothing for you to concern yourself with. I'm not a danger to anyone." He smiled sheepishly.

"Don't bullshit me, Jasper. You refer to the Cullens as them, are you no longer a part of the family of leeches?" I asked harshly. "And why is it that I cared for Emmet if I was manipulated?" I asked, realizing part of me missed Emmet still.

"I was never truly a part of that family, was I. They treated me like a god damned dog that needed to be leashed, of course, that was my own doing." He smirked. "As for Emmet, he and Rosalie are different as well. They are vampires, but they are also the only ones who held onto their humanity. Emmet's emotions are true and real, as are Rosalie's. In fact, the two of them hate what they are and didn't want you to become a monster."

"And Alice?" He winced when I said her name.

"She had me fooled. I thought she was different, I thought she could love, I was wrong. She and Edward got married a few months ago." He shrugged, looking defeated.

"I'm only half vampire, Bella, the only thing that changed is the fact that I glitter in the sunlight and I have no pulse. I'm technically dead, but I don't have to feed on the life force of others to survive." He sighed, "I had a part to play and it took all of my energy and devotion to play that part. Sometimes I had to knock the entire family unconscious so I could go grab something to eat or run off to take a nap. You have no idea how hard it was to play that role."

"Couldn't Edward hear your deceit? Couldn't Alice see it?" I pushed.

"My mind is protected from Edward. He only heard what I wanted him to hear, as for Alice, I rarely made decisions other than to continue doing what I was doing. She had no idea it was a ploy. I've learned to work around both of their gifts."

"What are you?" I was actually smirking at this point, I already suspected I knew.

"Same thing as Peter and Charlotte here." He motioned to the two beside him, I finally turned my full attention on them. "Well, Peter anyways, Charlotte, not so much."

Peter looked upset about something, but he also looked remarkably like my father, except with blonde hair and red eyes. I studied his eyes closer and realized there was a film there, below the almost solid red, there were the tiniest flecks of blue. "You've been playing a part as well?" I asked him.

"Yes, the best place to hide was among the enemy until the threat passed. Our kind was being-"

I held up a hand to stop him, "Being wiped out, I know. You are quite cunning to have hidden among them for so long. Those of your own kind must have even believed you to be dead." I frowned, thinking of my mother.

I turned to the woman at his side, my head tilted to the side a little upon observing her, she was even more different. There was something about her, I just couldn't put my finger on it. "Would the three of you like something to drink?" I asked.

"Water if you would please." The woman said quietly.

"You got beer?" Jasper asked, "The atmosphere in here is kind of tense." He subtly nodded to Sam who still held me clutched to his chest.

I disentangled myself from him, though he had tried to hold on. I stood and turned my back to the others to look him in the eye, there were three gasps from behind me, I closed my eyes, they knew. "Sam, it's fine, I'm fine, I'm not going anywhere."

"Bella?" Peter's voice called from behind me, "That's a very detailed tattoo on your back."

"Do you mean me harm now, Peter?" I snapped, tossing a glance over my shoulder.

"Not at all, in fact, I'm quite interested in how you got such a detailed design?" There was the hint of humor in his voice.

He was irritating me, and when I turned to face him completely he grabbed onto my shoulders roughly, forcing me to look into his eyes. Sam growled behind me, Jasper told him to hold a moment and just watch, that Peter wouldn't harm me. Something changed in Peter's eyes, the intensity of them, he was doing something. It made my wings twitch and squirm under my flesh until finally they burst free. We'd moved out of the way so it wouldn't hurt anyone or knock anything over.

"Why the fuck didn't you tell me she was the one we were coming here in search of?" Jasper growled.

"I didn't know." Peter's gaze was still locked on mine, "You look so much like my mother." He whispered, pulling me to him in a tight hug, careful to avoid my wings. I felt his back shifting under my hands and his shirt shredded in back as his massive wings shot out.

I hadn't noticed the tears streaming from my eyes as a loud sound echoed through the house, like a boulder slamming into another, I turned my attention to Jasper to find he too had wings and a shredded shirt, the woman, Charlotte had wings as well, but she wore backless shirts like I did. There before me were three more of my kind, I had thought I was the last one, then I found Ang. Just finding Ang was so important to me, but then to find three more was a miracle.

The back door burst open and I smelled Leah. She came to the doorway and stopped by what I could hear, then she said, "Bella I came to make sure you are alright. Oh-" She cut off, "Oh my!"

I looked up to find her gaze locked on Jasper in surprise. His was locked on her as well, both of them forgetting the world around them for a moment.

"Leah?" Sam gasped.

"I-" She looked around the room, "I have to go!"

"Peter?" I managed through my shock. "What is your mother's name?"

"Lorraine. My father was Holt." He told me, "Why do you ask?"

"Those are the names of my parents, Lorraine told me in a letter before she left me here that I had a brother but the vampires got to him."

"I have a baby sister!" He said happily, "Charlotte, baby, you can stop muting our heartbeats now."

Suddenly two more heartbeats joined my own and Sam's. Sam finally relaxed and let out a chuckle. "I swear, you angels just keep dropping from the sky. Only a week ago, Bella discovered another."

"Another?" The three guests asked excitedly.

"Angela Weber, I don't know if you'd remember her, Jasper." I began, but then I focused on him and pulled away from the stranger that looked so much like a blonde version of my father. "Jasper, if they are angels, what are you?"

"I'm an angel that was turned into a vampire, mostly just a half breed. Everything about me is Angel except my pulse and my skin." He explained quickly. Something nagged at the back of my mind, something saying I could change that for him.

"The vampire world believes us to be vampires." Peter shrugged, tilting his head back to removed a contact lens, then doing the same with the other eye. "I created these myself. They helped with the charade."

"No one ever noticed?" I asked, my wings trembling from the informational overload.

"It was easy, the _Cullens," _Jasper spat the name, "They rely on their gifts too much. My mind is protected from them unless I project my thoughts to Edward. I only had to project the right thoughts, the lies. I made them believe I fed on humans for years, made them believe an entirely false story, they bought it with ease. I fell in love with Alice and kept up my charade to be with her, I'd thought her kind, loving. I didn't realize she was the same as the rest of them. She and Edward took off together and she divorced me. They still don't know what I truly am, but it doesn't matter, no one could love me back, I'm half and half, I'm not anything." His face fell.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that," Sam frowned, "But that is something to be discussed later. I have always wondered why whenever we encountered each other after I phased that you didn't smell like one of them."

"To them I do." He smirked, "How do you think they bought it."

"What about the two of you? How could you have fooled them?"

"They are truly stupid creatures. Charlotte can mask our angelic features, sort of a glamour to make us appear to be one of them, she can also mute our heartbeats. I can mask our scents, they thought that hers was only masked because we are mated and my unique form of protection extended to her." Peter chuckled.

"Your hair?" I croaked.

"A special formula, it's dyed. Though I could have kept it black."

" Now that you know the basics, it's time to tell you something. Isabella, you are the reason we came here," The woman, Charlotte murmured, "Your special gifts."

"Huh?" I gaped at her.

"There is an old legend among our people. It says that we will be very close to being wiped out. The vampires will spend years thinking they are safe from the Angels, the leaders will have forgotten the threat, in a manner of speaking. The race will be depleted, but those that remain will lay low, out of sight or hidden in plain sight of the enemy. There would come three, three that would recreate the race little by little, make a stronger race, one that the vampires cannot stand against. They will each have a gift that other angels do not possess."

"A gift?" I asked.

"The gift of knowing, the gift of feeling, and the gift of sharing. Though the Angel who possesses that last one is rumored to have a few more very useful abilities as well. I am knowing, information comes to me with a certainty and it has never failed me. Jasper is feeling, of course, you must already know that. I believe you are sharing. Can you project your memories?" Peter took over.

"Only on a reflective surface, but it takes so much energy. If I try it on water I become completely drained in a matter of minutes." I whispered.

"Then you are the third, we'll need to stay close to you Isabella. Together, the four of us will be safe. Five, if we are to be in contact with this other Angel you found."

"A stronger race, that, that must be why!" Sam said joyfully! "Oh, this is good news. Bella, the wolves, together with the angels, could you imagine what a mix of the two would bring?"

"Me." Charlotte said quietly, "Only, it wasn't wolves."

"Excuse me?" I asked her.

"Allow me to clear this up a bit." Peter smiled and closed his eyes, their scents were suddenly evident. He smelled like new leather and vanilla, she smelled like lavender and cinnamon, but there was another scent mixed with hers, cat.

"My mother was an angel, my father was a shape shifter, a mountain lion." She smiled warmly. "I'm stronger, faster, and just all around better than Peter."

"I resent that Darlin'" He smirked.

"The monsters tried to kill Peter, I took them all out and saved his life because they just couldn't get a hold of me. I saved his life."

"And I've loved her ever since." He chuckled, "She's a ball of fire, I can't wait until she feels more comfortable and you get to see her be herself, a terrifying little demon is what she is."

"So can you phase?" I asked her.

"Yes, I've never really needed it though, I only do it occasionally so I don't lose the form. There may be a day when I need it." She explained to me.

"But, what about your wings? Can you bring those out while phased?"

"Yes." She nodded.

"It's quite a sight to see, I'll have to show you sometime." She winked and stuck her tongue out the side of her mouth.

I burst into laughter, "So you're like a Pegasus, only a cat and not a horse?" I asked, I just couldn't picture it.

"Something like that, I can fly when I'm like that too."

I smiled at them and found words tumbling out of my mouth, "So this isn't a joke, is it? For instance, an Angel and two hybrids walk into a bar."

The three of them chuckled at my question and I found myself joining them. I knew they were trying to find a way to bring back what we were, there was no threat.

"You trust them?" Sam asked me suddenly.

I looked at all of them again, it was obvious to me that they weren't a threat, even Jasper, and he was the only one to have been changed by the vampires. Though he wasn't really a vampire at all, he just didn't have a heartbeat. That feeling sprang into the back of my mind again, but again I needed to ignore it.

"I do, besides, they are family." My eyes locked on Peter's and he smiled sadly, having only just discovered that he'd had family the whole time.

"If I'd known about you, I would have come to find you sooner." He told me, his blue eyes sparkling with unshed tears.

"It would not have been safe until I transformed." I shrugged. "I have another house, I just moved into it, mother left it to me. It's as much yours as it is mine Peter. You are welcome to stay there, all three of you."

"Bella, we'll need to have a pack meeting as soon as possible." Sam told me, laying a hand on my shoulder before stroking down my wing. I felt as it always made me feel, protected.

"Tonight we'll have dinner at the new house, the whole pack can come. Hell we'll just move Sunday dinner to today for this week, then after Charlie leaves, we can have the meeting. Or, I could ask him if he'd like to be included. He probably will, Billy and Sue have been dragging him in since the beginning." I sighed, "Billy's already asked if I wanted to try and convince Charlie to move down. I for one would feel more comfortable with Charlie living on the reservation. Besides, he and Sue have been secretly dating for awhile now."

My wings shook themselves out and shrank back into my back, I noticed Jasper did the same, Peter handed him a new shirt as he too absorbed his wings and redressed. "Tonight Ang will get to meet the whole pack, she hasn't met Embry, Seth, or Paul yet." I smiled to myself, it would be an eventful night, but it had already been so tiring.

"I'll rally the troops and get the girls over to your house to start cooking the feast then." Sam chuckled, "Such a peculiar day it's been, I'll contact everyone and stop by to tell Charlie to come to your house for dinner tonight."

"Thanks Brother." I sighed, he ruffled my hair and kissed the top of my head before leaving.

"Brother?" Jasper quirked an eyebrow at me.

"Sam and I have a unique bond. I got my feelings hurt when I thought I was the only one of us left, I felt so alone. He, he was there for me. He told me I belong at his side."

"You're certain he didn't mean romantically?" Peter asked protectively.

"I'm certain, he's mated, His imprint is like a sister to me." I nodded.

"Imprint?" Jasper asked.

"It's strange to explain it. But mostly it's like love at first sight, the wolf looks someone in the eye and then that someone is the one thing holding them to the earth. Nothing else really matters as much. They'll do anything, be anything to keep that person happy. Sam imprinted on Emily, Jared on Kim, it's really beautiful to see them together."

"They have a tool that tells them with certainty who they are meant to be with? Who is their perfect match?" Charlotte asked.

"Yes."

"My father's tribe had something like that. That was how I knew Peter and I were meant to be." She got this dreamy look on her face.

"Bella, please do not think I'm being cruel by asking, but who did it the second time?" Jasper asked out of nowhere.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Who broke you the second time? I assume the first was Edward. I know it had to have happened a second time, and I have the strangest need to cause them bodily harm."

"You can't he's part of the pack." I shrugged, "But it doesn't matter, I was never in love with him, and Sam hit him in the face with a frying pan. Besides, I just want to know who the vampire in my room was that night."

"What?" They all asked together.

"The night I got my heart broken, I smelled death when I went into my room and my window slammed closed. Then I transformed. Then when I found Irina in the forest, she smelled like death too, it wasn't the exact same scent, but it was close. So I know there was a vampire in my room that night."

"Irina?" Jasper growled.

"She was mated to Laurent, at least that was what he said. The wolves killed him and she wanted revenge, she intended to take them out one by one. At least I assumed it was her, it was a blonde who claimed to be mated to Laurent. I didn't get her name before I killed her. That was an interesting day as well, I threw her head on Paul's breakfast plate." I chuckled.

Jasper beamed with a sudden pride and dropped an arm across my shoulders. "So this house of yours?" He asked, changing the subject.

"You'll love it, it's so secluded and big. We just finished moving in today, and when Sam got here and saw my things missing, he kind of freaked out."

"He thought we whisked you away?"

"Yeah, we haven't told them about the house because we wanted to get it all set up before they come destroy it. The boys can play rough sometimes." I chuckled, "I ran here, do the three of you have a vehicle?"

"Two trucks, we had to bring our things, we were going to settle down nearby anyways."

"That works out nicely then." I grinned, "Let's get going, Jasper, I'll drive your truck." I reached my hand out for the keys.

"So much has changed about you." He shook his head.

"That's the thing, not much has really changed. You knew empty headed, controlled Bella. You never got a chance to meet the real me." I shrugged, heading outside and locking up behind me.


	11. Memories on Display

**_Okay guys, I know it's been a little while since the last chapter, but I've been dealing with a lot of reality lately. First my mom was in the hospital, but she's okay now. She has a condition that I was diagnosed with years ago, it's just developing for her now. It's nothing too serious and can only be life threatening if we aren't diligent. Also, I am moving and that's taking up a lot of my time. I happened to have a bit of free time because my girls are visiting their dad and I decided to give you two more chapters today because it might be awhile before I can add another. Thank you all so much for the reviews, they are greatly appreciated! Even those of you who don't review and add me to alerts or favorites, that tells me just as well as a review that you like the story. ~~Becca_**

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><p><strong>BELLA POV-<strong>

We drove to the new house in silence and I introduced the three of them to Leah and Ang. Leah had blushed and looked away daintily when she shook Jasper's hand. They sat down and explained what they were and what Jasper was to them. Emily and Kim showed up shortly after and they joined in on the conversation while the three of us started cooking like hell. Everyone had moved into the kitchen to chat or help.

"We need to hire six cooks and a butler or two." Leah laughed as she began helping us. Her eyes would stray to Jasper every few minutes and then she would blush again, I was so utterly confused.

"Very true, but then again, we all have superhuman strength and speed other than Emily and Kim." I smirked.

"Which is completely unfair." Kim huffed.

"I could say that you could get bitten, but then you'd be my enemy." I shrugged, she blushed and looked away so I added, "But Kim, I wouldn't want that. I like you."

"You do? I didn't think you did, I've seen you hug everyone but me, Jacob, and Paul."

"Really?" I asked her, "I've been so stuck in my own world lately, Kim, you are my sister, just like Leah and Emily, just like Ang." I looked up and met Charlotte's gaze, "You too, although that is also legally as well, considering you are married to my brother."

She giggled but the other girls stopped what they were doing to gape at me, "Peter and I have the same birth parents." I shrugged, going up to my room to get the picture of the two of them together to show them. "He looks just like my father, except blonde."

"You have that photo too?" Peter laughed, it was such a laugh that it filled the entire house, the kind you couldn't help but smile about.

"She left them for me with the paperwork." There was just so much going on, so much. I sighed, "I've also got this." I tugged the locket out from beneath my shirt. Peter opened it and smiled.

"You were a beautiful baby, Isabella. So sorry I missed it." He frowned.

"It's fine, you were so busy playing charades, you didn't know I existed." I winked.

He just smiled and went back around the counter to lean on it and continue the conversation. "Did she give you any other gifts?" He asked, truly curious.

"Well, their wedding bands, and another necklace, and then the most chilling gift ever. A pair of silver wolf earrings."

Peter erupted into booming laughter, "Mom had the gift I do, she had the gift of knowing. I promise you those earrings mean something, or will."

Emily, Leah, and Kim all shared a look, but when they saw me staring at them, they rushed back to work. They were keeping something from me. That or they had noticed something I hadn't.

"So have all of you been close since the last time I saw you?" Jasper asked.

"No, Leah and I were very close before she phased awhile ago. It was before she even knew she wasn't human, she knew I wasn't because I trusted her. When she did phase, she ran straight to me and I handed Sam his ass." I smirked, "He came into my home and made an ass of himself, I put him in his place and calmed things down enough for everyone to have a nice little conversation. It was the following night that I met Kim, but I'd met Emily that morning before the fight."

"Fight?" Peter asked.

"Everyone thought I was human, they threw a fit about me being welcomed into the pack. I walked in and tossed a vampire's head on the table. There was a huge blow up and Seth got angry at Paul and vice versa. I diverted attention onto myself so when Paul attacked he would be going for me. I pissed him off, he phased, lunged, I forced him to phase back and took him down. We spoke about it and everything is fine now." I left so many things out, but it didn't matter.

"Then I found you last week and dragged you home with me, and now here we are, as if we've known each other all our lives." I said to Angela.

"Before I phased, life with this one was pretty dull." Leah teased, draping an arm around me. "But since I phased, I've met two more angels, two half angels, watched her kidnap someone, watched her argue with… well everyone."

"Well, the food will be done in a half an hour, everyone should be arriving soon." Emily said.

The doorbell chimed and I snickered, "Speak of the devil, and the devil shall appear."

"Speak of food, and the wolves will appear." Kim corrected me with a hand to my shoulder.

"It's the elders." I called as I walked into the living room. Not only could I smell them, I could see Sue's car in the driveway.

I went to open the door and was pulled into a hug by Sue. "I have been told that you've received some very interesting visitors. Another bonfire is in order to welcome our new allies, that is, if they are willing to join forces with us."

"Better than being stuck in a house that reeks of death!" Jasper smiled as he stepped into the room. "I'm Jasper Whitlock, pleased to meet you ma'am."

"Sue Clearwater, I'm Leah and Seth's mother." She shook his hand and frowned at him, "I don't understand how the three of you managed to hide what you are from those monsters." She shook her head.

"I have just enough of what they are in me to pass as one if I wear contacts." Jasper told her. "To them I smell like one of them, to Bella and the others, I don't. It's an anomaly."

"You're the one who was an angel and then you were bitten?" Billy asked, rolling through the door.

"I am." Jasper nodded.

"You eat human food?" Billy asked with a hint of a glare.

"I do."

"Then allow me to test you." Billy smiled, he pulled out a pocket knife and slit open his hand.

"Billy!" I shouted, he was watching Jasper closely as the blood welled up, there wasn't even a hint of a change, not even to my increased senses. I could smell the blood though and I began to get a little sick.

"I told you not to do that dad! Bella faints at the sight of blood." Jacob's voice pierced the air and I felt even more sick because it was he that spoke on my behalf.

I began to fall toward the floor but a pair of hot arms wrapped around me and I was pulled tightly against someone's chest. I heard a growl reverberate off the walls from somewhere in the room, then someone said, "Shut up Jacob!" The growling stopped.

I looked up to find that it had been Paul that caught me, "Careful now." He breathed, "You've always been so sensitive." He shook his head and scooped me up.

I was plopped on the counter and a glass of ice water was placed in my hand. There were murmured conversations going on, but I heard nothing of what was being said because of the throbbing in my head. Paul watched me drink the water he'd given me, and under his gaze, my wings trembled beneath my skin and my stomach flipped. My head tilted as I tried to figure out what I felt toward him. I hadn't seen him much since being around the pack, and I was surprised to find that I had missed him.

When my head cleared I hopped down off the counter gracefully and thanked Paul. Every time I looked at him any more he had this war going on in his eyes, emotions warring with each other to break free, but I had no idea what to do about it, other than to pretend it wasn't there. If he wanted to discuss it, he would, simple as that.

I joined the others, who were all seated at the table, discussing our newcomers. Apparently, Sam had already filled in the pack and the elders, and they were all for allying themselves with more angels. Even Charlie was giving the thumbs up.

"No offense to anyone, but why are you all accepting this so easily?" I asked quietly.

"You accept them, we trust your judgment on this one, besides, I was told we are expecting a little visit from your old friends." Paul locked eyes with me, his eyes had gone yellow, but unlike Leah it wasn't with concern, it was something else entirely.

"Not just that, the redhead has been around, we've been tracking this one for months and can't get a hold of her. I want this bitch in the ground."

I jerked upright with so much force that my glass fell to the floor and shattered. "Redhead?" I asked tensely.

"Yeah, she's been trying to get through us to Forks, we don't know what she's after." Sam looked around the room. "But it's just one vampire, right now I'm more interested in the fact that Charlotte is half shape shifter half angel." He was purposefully changing the topic. He'd already run through everything with everyone about Charlotte.

"Can we see?" Seth asked her quietly, "Can we see both forms together?"

"Give me just a moment." She smiled and practically danced out of the room. What returned in her place was a mountain lion the same size as the wolves, we watched and listened as the wings erupted from the cat's back. She was truly magnificent looking, I'd never seen anything like it. A horse sized sand colored mountain lion with huge black wings. She looked like a griffin, minus the eagle head and scorpion tail.

There were many uttered compliments about her form and she vanished into the other room to change back and probably fetch her clothes. Jasper told them all about his past and it had made my heart break for him. He'd had his heart broken twice before leaving for the army, then he encountered Maria and her minions. He transformed and Maria decided in that moment to force him to ally with her. She changed him and had her army torture him until he agreed to join her. That was when his act had first begun. That annoying as hell nagging feeling returned like the bile trying to force it's way up my esophagus when Sam mentioned a redheaded tick.

By the end of the conversation, dinner was being served and everyone was eating. It was so strange to watch Jasper eat and I wondered how he managed it when the Cullens never ate. He had mentioned knocking them out sometimes, or taking off.

I shook the questions away and decided I needed to tell Sam who the redhead he'd mentioned was. Sam had upped patrols, he'd been on edge for a few days, something was going on. It had to have been her.

"Sam?" I asked him.

"Yeah?"

"The redhead, how long has she been around?"

He wouldn't meet my eyes, he looked like a whipped puppy sitting there.

"Sam." I said through my teeth, he would not keep things from me, I wouldn't allow it.

"You were awful welcoming to these three, as soon as you found out they were not a threat, you sought to make them our allies, what the hell is going on?"

He leveled his gaze on me and I stood slowly, showing him I wasn't going to back down. "You are so damn stubborn, don't you back down from anything?"

"Fine, if you don't want to tell me, I will just go and find her and ask her myself." I turned to head for the door.

There was a thunderous bang behind me.

"ISABELLA MARIE SWAN! You will turn your ass around and sit down!" I turned in shock to face Peter, he was breathing very heavily and pissed beyond all reason.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" I snapped at him.

He stood to his full height, his jaw clenched in his anger. He had to be one of the scariest things I had ever seen. "I'm your brother, older than you by many, many years little girl and I highly doubt our parents, or Charlie would want you taking off to find that deranged bitch on your own!"

"Fine! But someone had better answer my question!" I demanded, looking to Sam.

"She showed up a few days ago and has been skirting us ever since. I don't know what she's up to or what she wants."

"Mate for a mate." I stated, thinking back to Laurent. "Victoria."

"Who is Victoria?" Sam demanded. "Bella, explain this."

Jasper was kneeling on the floor in front of me, when had I fallen? He gripped my shoulders hard and shook me a bit, "You're certain it isn't anyone else?" He asked me.

"She's the only one, it's her." My fingers found the coldest part of my body, the crescent shaped scar on my wrist. "She's trying to get to me." My eyes searched Jasper's for any hint of something, something I could cling to. The nagging feeling shoved away as I tried to find my answers.

"Who the fuck is Victoria?" Sam and Paul demanded at the same time.

"Someone needs to hold her, damn it!" Jacob's voice broke through the tension, "Someone needs to help her hold herself together, she's falling apart."

Immediately, hot arms wrapped around me and I was pulled into Sam's lap. "Someone please tell me what is going on." He said softly.

Jasper released a feral growl, "Fucking Cullens, causing trouble even when they're nowhere nearby!" He turned to Sam, "Do any of you remember when Bella left in a hurry, she went to Phoenix last year?"

"She said she couldn't stand it here, it's when she ended up in the hospital because of that boy!" Charlie growled.

"Well, it wasn't because of Edward directly, though I do blame him."

I struggled and leapt away from Sam and almost fell against the sliding back door. It was dark outside and it was reflecting the room back to us. I fell to my knees and rested my palms against the glass, forcing the memories forward. I heard his voice as it echoed through the room and I shook, I was right back where I'd heard his voice, and it still terrified me.

The memory played out for them, all of it, from the first phone call, to Edward sucking the venom out of my hand and nearly losing control. There were gasps and growls behind me and someone was crying. After playing out what had happened with James, I played the memory of the baseball game. Playing the memory, I realized Jasper had sensed them before Alice had, but he hadn't been able to say anything before Alice got her vision. When I showed the three of them entering the clearing and the wolves saw Victoria, they all growled.

"That's Victoria." Jasper's voice said from somewhere behind me.

"That is the redheaded bitch we've been after for months!" Sam bellowed.

I was drained, but until I removed my hand, memories would continue playing. When I got weak, I couldn't control it, I couldn't even pull my hands away.

"Bella, you can stop now, they've seen what they need." Peter said quietly, but I didn't even have the strength to move.

Random memories began playing. Edward the first time he spoke to me with kindness, the first time he had toyed with my mind to make me believe I loved him. His scrutiny as he directed me through his house that was no longer worried, it was sinister. How had I never seen it? The memories continued, " My family and I are leaving. You don't belong in our world. I don't want you." Followed by. "Leave and don't come back. You don't belong here!" They kept playing.

The memory of running through my house and to my room as my heart shattered, panting for breath. The glimpse of white that I'd seen as I fell to the floor, the sound of the window being closed roughly. It was all displayed for them. The letter, the words that stood out, showing Sam those things. The look on Paul's face when he looked into my eyes. That look, those eyes, I focused on them. A dam inside my head broke, and memories were being played that I didn't remember experiencing. Me in a hospital bed, a storm, I was crying. "It'll pass."

Me falling after bumping into someone, beginning to cry. A hand pulling me up before the person walked away without a word. Me falling to my knees in front of a boy with a gash in his leg and being overcome by the smell of blood, "You're so sensitive." Then over and over again, by many different voices as I grew, "She's such a well behaved child, such and angel."

"Such and angel!" Another voice said. Many others had said it over my lifetime, then the frame slowed and I was staring into the eyes of the woman from the photograph. "Everyone is safe, my sweet Isabella." The man in the background, then panic, fear, screaming and shouting. Being rushed up stairs, and suddenly hearing a crash and the wind as wings moved around us. Renee's face as she pulled me out of a basket on the porch. Then everything, absolutely everything went black.


	12. I Promise to Behave Myself

**_Here is the second installment for the day. It's got some more interaction between our heroine and her hero, lol. Don't be angry, I just had to do it, I had to. 3 Becca_**

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><p><strong>Paul POV-<strong>

Somehow I caught her before she hit the floor, before anyone else could reach her. There were tears streaming down her face, everything she showed us seemed to be painful to her. What she had done had exhausted her completely.

"Paul, take her up to her room and put her to bed." Sam said through his teeth, he was angry that I hadn't told Bella about the imprint, he said she needed to know she belonged. I couldn't bring myself to tell her though, it wouldn't do her any good.

I did as I was told and returned downstairs to find out what our next move was. "That thing she was doing, what is it?" I asked.

The one that said he was Bella's brother turned to face me, "It's called sharing. She can broadcast her memories onto any reflective surface for the world to see. It's a special gift among our kind, legendary really."

"Why is it so legendary?"

"It is said that the knowing, feeling, and sharing gifts will be possessed by the ones that will bring back the race. We'll make it stronger, better." He smirked.

"And how would you do that?"

"Well, it's all in the breeding really. My lovely Charlotte is half angel half shape shifter as you can see. She's stronger and faster than me, and I'd wager she's stronger and faster than you as well. Besides, our kind have special abilities to calm shape shifters. It is only one of the many reasons we had been allied for so long. When they would train cubs, our kind would be called in to help keep them calm so that they wouldn't phase."

"Breeding?" I asked stupidly. My mind went instantly to Bella. Our children would be half angel half shape shifter, they would be stronger. There was one thing I didn't understand though.

"So Sam is right, imprinting is just to find the best mate to breed with, it has nothing to do with soul mates?" I couldn't believe that, I had always loved Bella, to the point of despising her.

"Wrong. The imprint is much like what my father's tribe had. But the thing about it was there was one lion who imprinted on a woman who was barren. She could not have children. But together they adopted many, he loved her so completely because she was his perfect mate in every way." Charlotte explained, "Peter balances me perfectly. As I'm sure Emily balances Sam or Kim balances Jared. The breeding doesn't really figure into it."

"Are you certain?" Sam asked.

"Are you saying that the gods have such disrespect for women that they would send them here to be nothing more than a vessel to carry on your offspring?" Charlotte's voice was fierce, her mate placed a comforting hand on her back and she went quiet.

"I wasn't saying that at all, but it would seem so if all the imprint was for was a stronger generation." Sam responded thoughtfully.

I tuned out of the conversation and laid my head down on the table. It was funny, since I imprinted on Bella only the need to be close to her and the yearning to touch her had changed. She'd always been the only girl I ever saw. I had loved her from the first moment I saw her, but I didn't realize until the hospital. She didn't remember when we were small, when I was six and she was four. My parents went away and left me with Billy Black, they were gone the whole summer, some therapy thing, trying to make things better. It had been my mother's idea.

I was at Billy's for only a day when Charlie showed up with Bella in his arms. He had to work a night shift and Billy and Sara offered their help because Renee was out of state, visiting her mother or something like that. Jacob was only two, so Bella didn't pay him much mind. He followed her everywhere and she just took it. Of course, I watched her closely while I colored, pretending I didn't care. Honestly, she was the prettiest girl I'd ever seen, and when she asked if I wanted to watch beauty and the beast with her, I couldn't decline. Billy set the movie up and we climbed up on the couch that seemed so big at the time. I laid down on the couch and covered up with a blanket, she started to get tired so she crawled in front of me and lay with her back against my stomach. She slithered under the covers and fell asleep almost instantly. I watched her for a moment before throwing my arm over her and falling asleep myself. The next morning, when Charlie came to pick her up, she gave me a sloppy kiss goodbye that made me turn red. I'd never been kissed by a girl who wasn't my mom and I was extremely shy back then.

Things at home had gotten worse after that and I started developing scars, inside and out, so by the time I was a teenager, I hated everything. I hated everyone, including the girl that made me love her, and I hated her for that reason alone. No one understood, none of them. They didn't know how it felt to love someone who would never love you back. I refused to tell her about the imprint because I wasn't going to make her feel obligated to be with me, I wanted her to love me, but I knew that was impossible, I was just one of those things that no one could love. Besides, I wouldn't be able to stomach her looking at me with disgust.

"You can't really believe that way, can you?" The one with purple eyes asked me.

"Obviously, if it's the way I feel, it's what I believe." I muttered.

"You're wrong." The other stated, "Especially about her."

I just ignored them and returned to my self loathing. Before I realized, I fell asleep sitting at the table. My dreams were filled with her, as always, those blue eyes, hell even back when they were brown. I had always loved her, always. I jolted awake because of what felt like an electric shock. I turned to look at the person who had touched me and she rubbed her fingers together, as if she felt it too. She'd changed her clothes, she was wearing a long, silk, chocolate colored nightgown. It was spaghetti strap and backless. She was breath taking.

"I just came to make you go to bed." She said quietly.

"Huh, but don't I need to go home?" I asked her, "I didn't mean to just crash here like that."

"You can stay here." She whispered, grabbing my hand and pulling me to my feet.

She silently pulled me up the stairs, but I wasn't watching her, I was only paying attention to the small hand that held mine, the way it looked as though it belonged there. My heart throbbed unevenly and I swore I could see the ghost of a smile on her face when she noticed. My wolf paced inside me, waiting to make a move, wanting me to just claim her already. I wouldn't though, I would never claim her. She would never be mine.

After what seemed like an eternity, she stopped at a door and pushed it open, "With Peter, Charlotte, and Jazz here, plus me, Leah, and Ang already living here there were only two guest rooms. I checked them before I woke you, Embry is in one and Seth in another. So I'm afraid there aren't anymore guest rooms open."

"I don't want to be any trouble." I told her.

"You're taking my bed." She said and it left no room for argument. She shoved me into the room and closed the door behind us. "Get some sleep." She told me.

I looked at her room, it was bigger than my whole apartment! Her bed was the best looking thing I'd ever seen, it would fit me perfectly! My legs wouldn't hang off. "I'm not taking your place to sleep." I argued. "I'll go downstairs and sleep on the couch."

"Quil already took it." She shrugged. "Otherwise I would have somewhere."

"But you're tired." I whined.

"You're more tired, besides, I've already had a nap. I'll be fine." She smiled and shoved me in the direction of the bed. I gave up arguing and looked between her and the bed before giving in, but not before tugging her along with me.

"What are you doing?" She squeaked.

"The bed is big enough for the two of us, plus probably a few more if we wanted. I promise to behave myself. I just can't take your bed from you and you'll refuse to let me sleep on the floor." I shrugged, climbing into the bed and pulling her into it beside me. I threw the blanket over both of us and being so close to her made me fall asleep almost instantly.

**Bella PoV-**

He had dragged me into bed with him, I couldn't believe it. But then he fell asleep straight away, almost as if he hadn't slept decently in years and the right bed was the ticket. Maybe he would pull a Rip Van Winkle and sleep for years. He could certainly use it, I'd noticed it when I saw him in passing coming and going from Emily's. He was exhausted, so exhausted.

The Paul I knew was bitter and angry at the world, and the scars across his back told me why, he'd been severely abused as a child. The memory I had forgotten about came to the front of my mind again, a hospital, a storm, words of comfort. It had been Paul. He had been there for me when I was afraid though he'd just lost his mother, and the more I thought about it, the more I remembered about him. It seemed anytime I came to visit Charlie for the summer after Renee left him, I would see Paul. Since the first time I ever saw him at Billy's. He was a source of comfort that night, I was afraid because I had never slept at anyone's house other than Renee and Charlie's. Paul watched a movie with me and I finally got tired enough to go to sleep, I laid against him and it was difficult not to be comfortable there.

Then any time I would bump into him in a random place, for a few short minutes, or that one night in the hospital, he was a source of comfort. Even when he would tease me or say hurtful things, there was always something in his eyes that told me he said them only because he was hurting. Paul's eyes always held pain, suffering, and bad memories. I'd always wondered what horrors he had faced, but never asked. I only knew that his mother had died the night he was in the hospital with me.

Looking at him while he slept, his expression softened. The usual cold and detached mask had slipped away, replaced by a look of soft content. I wondered if he had been aware that my hand was still in his when he'd fallen asleep. I shrugged at the thought, it didn't bother me. My eyes traveled back up to his face and I let a sigh escape me, it was hard not to like Paul. Though he was almost always angry, people just seemed to be drawn in by something. Looking at him in that moment though, it was difficult not to care for him as well as like him. I shook the thoughts away and let myself fall back to sleep.

I awoke bright and early, my pillow had apparently hardened while I slept, but I wasn't uncomfortable. I opened my eyes to discover I was laying with my head rested on Paul's chest and my arm thrown across his stomach, still grasped in his. His other arm was snaked around my back and his palm rested on my hip. It was strange how content I was in that position. No one had ever held me against them so intimately, it should have freaked me out. I felt like I belonged there though. I sighed, it was impossible, Paul would never have feelings for me, it would never happen. I gently extricated myself from his arms and he unconsciously whimpered at the loss of contact, I nearly returned to his arms. Then I reminded myself that it wasn't me he was missing.

I flitted down the stairs to distance myself from him, my emotions were everywhere. I couldn't even get a handle on the look on my face yet, I had to be by myself, so I went to the kitchen to make a huge breakfast for everyone who had ended up staying.

"Bella, you're troubled." Jasper's smooth voice reached me from the other side of the counter, though it was barely even a whisper.

"It's not nice to call someone a head case." I frowned, turning to face him, "I'm conflicted, not troubled." The nagging feeling returned, but I had other things to worry about.

"Want to talk about it?"

"Not at all, I just need to figure things out." I sighed.

"Wow, Bella, you look like a fucking princess!" Quil hooted when he stepped into the kitchen. I looked down and remembered I was still in my night gown. "And you smell like Paul." He frowned at that and I turned red.

"Bella?" Jasper's voice was tense, "I knew I smelled wolf on you, I just didn't know who. Did something happen?"

"No, he fell asleep at the table, there were no beds and Quil had the couch so I made him sleep in my bed. He was so exhausted that he fell asleep immediately." I shrugged.

"Then why you blushing?" Quil smirked. I smacked him on the head.

"Mind your own business or no breakfast for you." I threatened. He snapped his mouth shut and sat at the table obediently.

"Jasper, I didn't get a chance to thank you with all the chaos last night." I spoke as I continued moving around the kitchen to get breakfast done.

"For what?"

"Saving me." My voice had dropped lower, "From them, I only wish I had known."

"I'm sorry I let it go on for so long, the truth was, it was selfishness that caused me to do it. I was an outcast in that family, though they weren't aware of how much. Then you came along, a human in the world of vampires, you were more of an outcast than I was. I was also very fond of you, though we weren't allowed near each other, I felt close to you."

I turned to flash him a smile, "It's so weird that you say that, I wanted closure after they left and I transformed. But I only wanted it from you. I wanted to see you again, to talk to you because I never got the chance before." My smile dropped, "Although at the time I thought I would end up fighting you because I thought you were my enemy."

"Only half." He smirked, coming around the counter to ruffle my hair.

"Why does everyone do that? Everyone acts like I'm their kid sister." I pouted.

"You kind of are, especially since the whole im-" There was a loud slapping sound and I turned around to find Paul had appeared out of nowhere and clamped a hand over Quil's mouth roughly.

"What's for breakfast?" He asked tensely.

"Everything." I shrugged, looking at the layout, there were pancakes, waffles, bacon, sausage, eggs, and I had no idea where the giant cinnamon rolls came from, or the biscuits and thick and creamy gravy. How long had I been cooking?

"Holy hell!" Leah sighed happily as she entered the kitchen. "Got something on your mind, B?" She asked coming around me to sniff the food appreciatively.

"No, why would you ask that?"

"You never have this much variety unless you're worried over something or something's bugging you. What's up?" She hugged my shoulders and everyone started fixing their plates.

"Nothing, I just didn't know what everyone would want." I lied.

Someone was bounding through the house and I knew exactly who it was before hot arms were thrown around me and I was spun in circles. "I love having you around!" Seth blurted as he kissed my cheek and set me on my feet before fixing himself a plate.

The others joined us and within a few minutes we were all seated at the table enjoying breakfast together. While we were eating, Jasper had moved to sit next to Leah, she smiled at him sweetly. Embry had placed himself next to Angela and they were whispering too low for anyone else to hear.

"Am I missing something?" I asked.

"Leah imprinted on Jasper, so they are getting to know one another." Seth whispered to me, "And Embry imprinted on Angela. Last night was one for the books."

"You're joking!" I gasped. It looked like Jasper was going to be there to stay.

"Okay, today I want a nice relaxing day, nothing big should happen. I just want one uneventful day, is that so much to ask?" I was talking to myself, I didn't expect an answer.

"The ladies of the house could go shopping, that would be relaxing." Charlotte offered.

"No, I can't go shopping today." I frowned, "I don't find it very relaxing."

"What about trying out the pool, we could call the others over, tonight is Sunday dinner here anyways." Leah offered.

"You know, that actually sounds like a pretty good plan. Besides, we need more wolves to eat that mountain of food."

The phone started ringing then and I got up to answer it, "Hello?"

"Bella, Sam's headed your way, he needs your help."

"What happened?"

"It's the twins! Their grandmother died this morning and it caused them to lose it. They have nowhere to go and they are worried that children services will take them away from here."

"They won't be taken away if I've got anything to say about it." I said goodbye and hung up the phone. I wouldn't have a chance to change, so I just stepped out the back door and waited.


	13. Saving The Twins

_**Okay, so I lied. I said two, but I ended up posting three because of where we were in the story. I also wanted to go ahead and get this part up and out of the way so we can move forward. Enjoy! 3 Becca**_

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><p><strong>Bella POV-<strong>

I wasn't even outside a full minute before Sam emerged in wolf form, followed by the twins in wolf form. They wouldn't be able to calm themselves so I would have to force it so we could all talk. The three of them nudged me with their noses as they arrived and the boys sank to their bellies waiting for me to help out.

"The two of you can sleep here tonight, if you want. We'll figure things out for you, I promise." I sighed, stepping up to them and scratching behind their ears. They let a couple low whines escape them and Brady buried his face in the crook of my leg.

"They are too upset to be able to phase on their own, I know we ask a lot of you, but they just can't get a hold of themselves." Sam's voice shook behind me.

"Come here." I reached out to Collin and scratched behind his ears then drew my fingertips up to the point of his ears before applying pressure to the correct place. His eyes widened and he shrank down into a boy again.

Seth was already standing behind me, holding out two pairs of basketball shorts. Apparently, Leah had showed him where we had decided to keep extra clothes for all the wolves. Collin threw the shorts on but he was trembling and very close to phasing back. "Thanks Bella." He murmured into my hair, holding onto me so he didn't phase again.

Brady approached me and I repeated the process of forcing a phase. Seth gave him the shorts and he put them on before falling into my lap, anything to be able to remain calm. He was crying softly and I just rubbed his back to comfort him as well as I could. They were my boys, I loved them like they were my own, I couldn't stand that they were hurting, it wasn't fair.

"Come inside and get some breakfast boys, then Sam and I can figure things out. Everyone will be here shortly."

"Everyone's coming here?" Sam asked.

"Well, before Emily called, we'd planned to use the pool today. Besides, Leah, Embry, Paul, Seth, Quil, Ang, Jazz, Peter, and Charlotte are already here. We only need to call Jacob, Emily, Jared, and Kim. Dinner is here tonight as well."

"Oh." He said simply, "I'll go make the calls."

"No, you'll eat with the boys, someone else can make the calls." I told him.

"Always ordering me about." He chuckled, ruffling my hair, I just huffed at him.

I stood, Collin released me except for my hand. Brady clung to me, hugging my arm against his chest and leaning on my shoulder. The three of us walked into the house and took a seat at the table. Leah handed them each a plate with a small smile, they each kept one of my hands while they shoveled food into their mouths. Sam sat down across from us and began eating as well.

After eating, Sam explained everything that had happened that morning and the fact that their grandmother had left everything to them in her will, but there was no one she knew of that could afford to take the boys in. The boys had known the woman was ill and considered death a respite from the pain she suffered through every day. They would miss her, but really they were relieved that she had passed quickly. The reason they were so distraught was fear of being removed from the pack. They would have to hide their secret, and be away from the only family they had left. While he spoke I began thinking. My house had seven bedrooms in it, and there was room in the basement to add two more if I needed and still have a large amount of space for the rest of it. We still hadn't decided what we were going to do with it yet. The bedrooms were on the second and first floor, the basement had no bedrooms in it. It was mainly a big open area.

As for the bedrooms the house already had, the first had me in it. The second was Leah's, the third was Ang's, the fourth belonged to Peter and Char, and the fifth belonged to Jasper, though I was sure that would change when he and Leah actually got together. So I had the space to let each boy have their own room, but we wouldn't have any guest rooms anymore until Jasper or Leah chose to share a room. We still had the couch, or we could have some more guest rooms added.

"What's going to happen to us now?" A meek voice asked from my left, Brady.

"We have nowhere to go." Collin added.

"We'll figure something out, boys. I've got a meeting with CPS this afternoon. I called them as soon as I found out about your grandmother."

"Thanks Sam, you've always looked out for us." Brady sighed.

"But you only have one extra room Sam, we can't stay with you, we'll have to find somewhere else, somewhere that we aren't taking up space."

"I promise we'll figure this out boy." Sam told them.

"Okay, I need to go and get dressed, then I am going to drive Sam to his appointment because he ran here. Sam there are some clothes for you to change into in the linen closet between the kitchen and the laundry room, just put the clothes your wearing now in the laundry and I'll wash them with everyone else's." I said. "Boys, You'll wait here until we get back, Angela, Peter, Charlotte, or Jasper can help you keep calm, actually Jasper can do it without needing to hold onto you."

"Bella?" Sam asked.

I held up my hand to quiet him, "You boys go get some trunks out of the linen closet and go out to the pool with the others. Tell everyone I'll be back shortly with Sam." I didn't wait for an answer, instead I released them and went up the stairs to my room. I got dressed and pulled out a few papers that I knew I would need, plus the information about the house and the certificate from the inspector along with the pictures he took and printed out after everything was finished and the furniture was moved in. I stuck all the paperwork I needed into a folder and pulled on a button up shirt, I rolled my shoulders uncomfortably but ignored the discomfort.

I rolled my hair into a bun to get some of the weight off my back and slipped into a pair of heels. When I descended the stairs, Sam was wearing jeans and a button up shirt, he smiled when he saw me. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you were up to something."

"Nothing at all." I shrugged. "Let's get going."

The drive was silent as we went to Forks CPS. We walked in and Sam checked in at the desk, a half an hour later we were sitting across from a stern looking woman.

"Mr. Uley, I understand you are here on behalf of Collin Michael and Bradley Joseph Forester. What is it you would like to discuss with me?"

"They lost their grandmother this morning, as I'm sure you are already aware of. I want to do what I can to keep them out of the system." He told her.

"Mr. Uley, do you have a home of your own?"

"Yes, my fiancé and I own our home."

"You are unmarried?"

"Yes, but I will be married soon."

"And what does your fiancé think of this situation?"

"She wants to do what we can as well." He told her.

"And if the union doesn't work, what then?"

"It won't fail."

"How many bedrooms does your home have?"

"Two."

"Do you and your fiancé plan for children?"

"In the future."

"And what would become of the twins then?"

"Wait a minute!" Sam was getting frustrated with the back and forth questioning.

"Ma'am, please excuse me for a moment so I can collect my thoughts." Sam stood abruptly and left the room, the woman settled her steely gaze on me and I sat there and stared back unafraid.

"You let your fiancé speak for you?" She glared at me.

"Sam is not mine to claim. He's a close friend of mine and I'm here today to show my support for him and those boys. Sam is trying to do the right thing."

"But he is not competent to raise teenagers, Sam Uley doesn't have the financial security to take care of their needs. It would be unwise for the twins to become his ward, he and the woman he plans to marry would have to put their plans for children on hold indefinitely."

"That's the other reason I'm here." I told her, "I want to take the boys in. I'm unmarried and I am not in a relationship at all. The boys would each have their own room and anything they needed."

"How well do you know these boys?"

"I've only known them a short time, but that is not relevant. These boys mean the world to me, they are so loving and compassionate that I can't let the system ruin them. You see, I lost my parents at a very young age and I was taken in by Chief Swan as an infant, the first day they saw me they decided to give me a home. I also have a very close friend who has recently lost her home because her adoptive parents threw her out. They could not accept her for who she was, and tossed her aside. I can accept the boys for who they are and I can understand what they are going through. I want to help them."

"You would take in strangers?" She gasped.

"They aren't strangers. I may not have known them for years, but I know them well. I've been tutoring them in their schoolwork since I met them and I'm responsible for helping them raise their grades. I count these boys as family and want what is best for them."

"You think that is you, how old are you?"

"I'm about to be nineteen."

"You want to saddle yourself down so young? What about college, a career? You can't possibly have the financial stability."

"You judge far too quickly, Miss. I understand you are just trying to find the best fit for these boys, but let me ask you a question. Would the best place for them be the system, where they will likely lose each other along with all of the people they have already lost? In a system that I know from experience is flawed? Or would the best place for them be among family and friends where they can stay together and are cared for. They would remain in school, they wouldn't rebel, and they would have everything they need and many things that they want. If I'm able to take them in, no matter than I'm only a few years older than they are, I will treat them as though they are my own children."

"You have that much compassion?" She quipped.

"I do." I told her, "And as for everything else, I believe this has all the information you need." I handed her the folder and she went through the papers. When she saw my bank statement she made some strange choking noise.

"How do you have this much money?"

"My birth parents came from very old money, when I turned eighteen I was allowed full access to my trust fund and all of the property they owned, which was all over the united states. The pictures are of the house I'm currently living in. As you can see, it has seven bedrooms, nine bathrooms, and room in the basement to add on more bedrooms if I need to. If you do not allow me to get guardianship of these boys and then custody, you would be very dense. They would only have the best kind of life if they stayed with me." I told her, then I fixed her gaze with mine, "I would also take legal action and cause this agency to be investigated, I hope you are doing absolutely everything by the books because the slightest mistake and you would be without a job."

"You are threatening me?" She growled, standing up.

"I don't threaten people. I'm stating facts. By your guidelines, I'm more than a suitable guardian for these boys. Siblings get custody of younger siblings when a parent dies as long as they can care for them. Consider me a sibling to them if you must. I must say though, if you ignore your own rules, I would have no choice but to seek legal action. I know this place already struggles and I don't think a lawsuit would be something you would want to take on at the moment."

"You are that determined?" She asked me, "Why?"

"As someone who lost her family at a very young age, I believe these boys deserve to remain with what family they've got. Think about it like this, if they are mine, you wouldn't have to pay foster parents. It would be more money for your agency to help out some other unfortunate child."

She deflated and fell back into her chair, "Your argument is iron clad, there is no way I could deny you if I wanted to. You've got it, I'll set everything up and give you a call in a day or so for the court hearing for custody of the boys. You've brought everything and I do not need a home visit, your home is immaculate. I don't think I would be wise to deny the Chief of Police's only daughter what she wants, when what she wants is to help these boys." She began making copies of my paper work.

"You make it sound like I'm after your first born." I told her, "I'm only trying to do what is best for the boys."

"As am I. I know my tactics seem heartless, but there are so many people who just want the money. It's difficult to find out what type of person someone is without being cold to them. If they lose their temper with me or I feel threatened, I won't find them fit to be a parent. It's how I keep my kids safe."

"Your kids?" I asked her.

"The cases I receive. Only one of the children I have handled was abused or abandoned by a foster parent. I found out they were just after the check. I changed my tactics after that and haven't had any trouble since." She sighed, "It's so much better when a friend of the family or a family member steps in, because they already care for the child."

"Well ,thank you for everything Mrs. Bowman, I really appreciate you seeing things from my point of view." I told her.

Her face softened and she broke out into a glorious smile, "Ms. Swan, you made the decision for me. You remind me a lot of myself, I was always doing anything I could to help the people I cared for. Even strangers. You're such and angel to come in and fight for these boys."

I smiled at her compliment and shook her hand, "I really should be going, I've got some boys to welcome home." I told her. She smiled and quickly handed my papers back to me, then she waved me off.

I walked outside and found Sam sitting on the stoop, "I don't know what to do, Bella, I don't know how to make this better for them. I'm sorry I left you in there like that, I just couldn't handle her attacking me."

"Sam, it's fine."

"No, it's not. This is the first time I can't fix things for them. I can't keep them out of the system." I ignored him and ushered him to the truck.

He was so destroyed, but I couldn't tell him yet. I needed him to look sullen and upset. He needed to see that it couldn't be up to him to fix everything for the boys.

"Brady's name is Bradley?" I asked him.

"Yeah, when he was little though, he and Collin said it wrong, so it just kind of stuck." Sam's voice was tense with shame, I sped home so we could get everything out in the open.

When we got to the house, everyone had arrived and they were all out at the pool house. We could see them through the windows, splashing, swimming and actually enjoying themselves. "Shall we go and tell them the news?" I asked Sam.

"Yeah, better get this over with now. I'm sure they will be picking them up in the morning and the boys should really pack." He looked so heartbroken.

"Sam, it'll be okay." I told him.

We walked out to the pool house and everyone stopped what they were doing to look at us, all eyes were focused on Sam. "You couldn't do anything, could you?" Collin asked bravely. "We can't stay with you?"

"No, I'm sorry, I failed." Sam sank to his knees, "I'm so sorry."

"What are we going to do now?" Brady asked, his eyes beginning to fill with tears. I decided it was time to lift the spirits back up.

"Well, tonight you are going to enjoy yourselves and have a wonderful time. Then in the morning you are going to go to your grandmother's house to pack your things. After that, you are bringing your stuff here and moving into the two guest rooms that are right next to each other on the first floor. I'll help you with the funeral arrangements after speaking to your grandmother's lawyer on Tuesday."

"Wait, what?" Sam looked up at me sharply and everyone was just gaping at me.

"There are some papers that a judge will need to see before the decision is final, but I've been found fit to become your legal guardian."

"Why you sneaky little brat! You could have told me that on the way home!" Sam growled as he leapt to his feet and crushed me in a hug.

"Welcome home boys." I told them when I was released by Sam, they crushed me to them, and no one cared that they had gotten out of the pool to do it and soaked me in the process.

"Thank you so much!" Brady sobbed into my neck.

"It's no problem, the house is just too big. We need more noise." I chuckled. "Now go on, have fun while I go in and start making dinner."

I turned on my heel and went into the house to change, then clean up from breakfast and start dinner. I was so happy I had gotten my way. Collin and Brady had lost the last person they had and they feared being taken away. I had to fix it for them, I had to make things better for them. I started crying from relief, I dearly loved my family of misfit monsters.

I was up to my elbows in soapy water. I was washing the breakfast dishes so we would have them for dinner. It was so strange, but I felt so connected to all of them, they were family, they were permanent. With the addition of Collin and Brady I had found my place, the place where I belonged. With my pack.

Hot arms wrapped around me from behind and I was pulled against a hard body, "You are amazing. Has anyone ever told you that?" Paul's voice was rough and quiet as he whispered in my ear. My hands were halted over the soap filled sink, I didn't know what to do.

He removed his arms and ran his hands down my arms, pushing my arms down to hang at my sides, his fingers wound with mine. "Even without the wings, you'd still be an angel. Why are you so kind to everyone when it's just one bad thing happening after the other? How do you find the strength to be kind?"

"It's nothing, Paul, it's just who I am."

"You hate me, you've always hated me, but you're still so nice to me. I've never been nice to you, so I don't deserve it. Why would you help me to hide my shame? Why would you have dragged me to bed because I was exhausted? Why would you let me hold you while I slept when I've never been kind to you?"

"I've never hated you Paul." I told him sternly. Suddenly he released me and stumbled backwards, supporting himself on the counter behind him. I dried my hands and turned around to look at him. "I've always known, you were just in pain. The world was cruel to you, so you grew angry at it." I stepped up to him and placed my hands on his hips, making him turn his back to me and place his hands against the counter.

I wasn't entirely sure why I was doing what I was, but I wasn't about to stop myself. I slowly ran my hands down his back over his shirt, then I slipped them up beneath his shirt. His lower back held no scars, they were across his back from the middle up to his shoulders though. He tensed before I reached the first ones.

"Bella, don't." He said weakly.

"Hush." I moved my hands up further, his skin was like the smoothest silk beneath them. When I reached his scars I could feel the dark lines faintly. Just slightly raised and coarse compared to his lower back. I ran my hands up his back, and down them a couple of times before removing my hands and making him turn around to face me. His eyes were clamped shut.

"You have to face your fears Paul." I whispered to him. His eyes shot open and he looked into my eyes.

"Impossible." He muttered, then he turned away from me abruptly, "I'm seeing things, there is no way you could touch them and then look at me like _that_."

I smiled at him and took his hand in mine before bringing it up and kissing his palm. "You really are something, you know that?" I smiled at him. It was the first time I had ever seen him drop the mask while he was awake. All of his emotions were splayed out for me to see.

Paul frowned at me, "Bella, you can't, you can't do this to yourself."

"I'm not doing anything." I shrugged, dropping his hand and turning back to my dishes. It hurt my heart to ignore him, but if I didn't I would make a fool of myself.

The next three weeks passed without incident. We had dinner with the whole family that night. A few nights later, Leah and Jasper moved into the same room and officially became a couple. Embry didn't say he was moving in, but he rarely left. I got legal custody of the twins after a painless court appearance and a conference where the boys talked to the judge. In my heart they became my sons quickly, and to them I was their mom. Their real mom had died before they could know her, during childbirth. Then their dad raised them, he died when they were six and their paternal grandmother took them in.

Emily and Kim would come over daily at lunchtime, they would make lunch and dinner for everyone. We would have breakfast, then those who went to school would go while the rest of us went to work or hung out around the house. I spent a lot of time getting to know Peter, Char, and learning more about Jasper. When everyone was back from school they came to the house to do homework and I would help the twins while Ang or someone else would help anyone else that needed it.

Peter's gift allowed him to find my ins and outs pretty quickly. When I was upset, he knew, when there was something I didn't want to deal with, he would try and make it vanish. We were all just trying to get acquainted as a big misfit family. Every member was adored and irreplaceable for their own reasons.

Paul was acting strangely toward me and the more he distanced himself from the group, the more tired he seemed. He would hug me hello and goodbye but rarely spoke to me. The only person he spoke to was Sam and they would only argue, then they would phase and fight so I never got to hear the entire argument. When I asked the others they told me that Paul was being stupid and Sam was trying to get him to stop. That of course, told me nothing of what they were fighting about.

Myself, though, I found myself watching Paul more often than not. The more I watched him, the more I cared for him. It only took that three weeks for me to realize I'd somehow fallen in love with him. The only thing was, I couldn't figure out when I'd fallen in love with him. I decided to figure it out, to go through my memories and the feelings I felt during each one. I had locked myself away in my room for the night and I was alone, so I took the mirror down from my wall and pressed my fingertips to it.

I began to play back all the memories that had to do with Paul, it was simple, I only had to think about him while forcing those thoughts onto the glass. The first time I knew I felt love for him was when I curled up against him when I was at Billy's for the night when Charlie had to help out at the station. It was such a simple thing, he held me while I slept, so I loved him, but it was the same love I felt for Charlie and Renee. I moved forward and found what I was looking for.

I was around twelve, it was the last summer I came to spend with my father. I was at the small playground that not many kids played at because it was warm enough to go to the beach. I was just sitting on the swing, bored because I had no one to play with. I'd gone all out that day and packed myself a little picnic basket. I moved from the swing down to a blanket and began snacking on my lunch. There were a couple boys playing basketball on the courts nearby and I could hear them shouting so I watched. I recognized Paul as the boy who always seemed to appear out of nowhere. He moved along the court gracefully and slammed the ball into the hoop. He was the first boy I'd ever really noticed as the opposite sex. He had no baby fat, he was very masculine for his age. The game was still going after I packed the basket back up and started to walk past the court to go home. The ball got away from him and bounced past me, then I hit the ground hard with someone landing on top of me.

"Jesus will you not stand right in my way?" He grumbled as he tried to right himself. Then his eyes met mine and I was frozen, his eyes held something for me, it was the strangest look I had ever seen and I could only think of kissing him. I felt the heat in my face as I blushed. We disentangled ourselves and I pulled myself to my feet, he asked if I was okay and I could only nod. Then he brushed my hair out of my face and tucked it behind my ear, that was the moment I had fallen for him. Such a simple gesture.

He was the reason I never dated in Phoenix, I'd always known there was one but I couldn't figure out what it was, none of the boys appealed to me. As I thought about it, no other guy had ever caught my attention without taking it by force. Jacob had been nothing more than a friend and Edward had forced me into believing I loved him. It was almost like every guy on earth was a blur, then Paul came through crisp and clear.

I returned the mirror to the wall and lay on my stomach, Paul would never be interested in me, it was impossible. So I was going to be alone forever, because he didn't want me and I didn't want anyone else. That night was the night all my smiles were forced and I began pretending. Only Jasper and Peter knew for certain that something was bothering me, Leah and Ang were worried because they said something was off, but no one else mentioned it. After a week, I started to get mad at Paul, he had no right to look at me the way he did, the way that gave me hope, but then turn away and crush that hope completely.


	14. The Things She Can Share

**BELLA POV-**

So the boys had been living with me for a month and I was making Sunday dinner. I was chopping vegetables while the other five girls bustled around the kitchen or the rest of the house helping to prepare for the whole family. Paul walked in and was talking to some of the other guys, I happened to look up and he was giving me that look. It was the one that made me think maybe he liked me, but then he went back to the conversation as if nothing had happened. I started chopping harder and focused more intently on my work. I heard the movement of the other girls halt as they stopped to watch me for a second, trying to figure out what had bothered me, but then they went back to what they were doing.

"You're tense." Jasper said as he entered the room from my right.

Before I had a conscious thought to react, my right arm shot out and the knife embedded itself completely to the hilt in the wall right next to Jasper's head.

"What the fuck?" Multiple voices yelped in surprise.

I walked over to the drawer and pulled out a clean knife, I would get the other one later, "Do not broadcast how I am feeling, Jasper, next time I won't miss. It won't seriously injure you but it will hurt like hell." I said, my voice was low and dangerous. He said nothing in response and went out the back door.

I was so frustrated, Paul was frustrating me to no end. It wasn't fair that he exist. It wasn't fair that I wanted him when he had no interest in me. I did everything I could to make sure everyone was happy, didn't I deserve some happiness. Couldn't I be with Paul? No, the world gave me a big "fuck you" on that one. The more I thought about it, the more frustrated I got, I ended up dumping the vegetables in the pot and going out to find Peter.

He was talking to Sam and Jacob. When I approached he walked further out into the yard, knowing what I needed. Everyone watched in surprise, they still couldn't figure out how he just seemed to know. Hell, with me it had nothing to do with his gift, he just learned about me so quickly, it was like we'd been together my whole life.

"Bring it little sister." He smirked, his stance becoming defensive when we were far enough away that no one would get hurt.

"No holding back." I told him tensely.

"I know." He grinned, tapping his head.

So I launched myself at him and we threw punch after punch, kick after kick. We were pretty evenly matched but I was slightly faster, so I downed him in about ten minutes, neither of us even breathing hard. "You win." He told me.

But I was still so frustrated, almost to the point of ripping out my hair. "Char, darlin' could you help us out? Bella needs a challenge." Peter called.

"No, just forget it." I said, walking off into the trees. It wouldn't work, I wanted to destroy something, I needed to destroy something and I wouldn't hurt my family. They meant too much to me.

I went far into the trees and began hitting anything and everything I could. I hit with so much force that my knuckles were raw and bloody an hour later when I fell to my knees panting. It took a lot to break my skin, but I had done it. The force of my anger had even surprised me, it was as if everything that had ever pissed me off had been locked away and had suddenly burst free. My little area of the forest looked like a bomb had gone off. I clenched my bleeding hands and walked back toward the house. The cuts were healed by the time I got to the back door and the blood was almost dry, regardless, Emily yanked me inside and shoved me into a kitchen chair while she went to get wash cloths to clean the blood.

Everyone was silently watching me as Emily cleaned me up, but no one spoke a single word. I felt calm begin to touch the edges of my anger and heard a resounding slap. When I looked up, Jasper was glaring at Peter. "She's been manipulated enough, fucker! Let her feel what she's feeling and choose for herself. If she asks, that's different."

Dinner went on with no more trouble from me and then everyone found something to occupy themselves, I was cleaning the kitchen and a few people were watching movies in the living room. Peter stepped up behind me and put an arm around my shoulders.

"Sugar, sometimes men are very stupid. Sometimes the woman has to take what she wants." He said too low for anyone but me to hear. "Besides, you deserve to have what you want more than anyone."

I told everyone goodnight and went to bed, I was just too frustrated to care about much of anything. The next morning, I woke up and busied myself by going shopping for refreshments. We were having a little party to let off steam because most of the boys had just finished finals in school. They'd worked so hard and the girls thought it would be a good idea to reward them for their efforts.

After getting home and putting everything away, I went outside for some fresh air and Jasper came out to join me. That nagging feeling jumped to the forefront of my mind and I spoke before I thought of what to say, "Does being half vampire make you stronger?"

"Actually it dulls my senses a little. I hate it, I just want to be what I was before that bitch Maria changed me. I know I've found my mate, but how can I protect her to the best of my abilities with the taint in my blood?" He looked at me and his eyes held hope.

Without any warning for either of us, I was in front of him, standing. He was as startled as I was, but I just allowed whatever it was that was guiding me to continue. "Stand." My voice told him without my conscious command to do so.

He stood and I walked around behind him, placing the palms of my hands over where his wings were scarred into his back. They pulsed under my hands and with a resounding crack, they erupted forth. I leapt into the sky in time to avoid them and my own wings erupted. I landed in front of Jasper again this time laying my hands on his chest, his body slumped backwards and as I leapt into the air once more he came along with me as if he were made of metal and my hands were magnetic. He was completely unconscious. I felt this energy build up inside me and rush along my skin, being stopped as it reached my elbows. The pressure built and built, and below us I could see the others spilling out into the yard. The pressure had built too high and in half a second it had burst forth out of my body through my palms and into Jasper. A white blue light had accompanied the exchange along with the sound of an explosion. Jasper was thrown back from me and I was able to watch him tumble to the ground. I'd killed him, why would I have done that?

"J-Jasper." I whispered as my vision went black and I lost consciousness. The last thing I was aware of was that my wings shrank into my spine and I started to tumble from the sky.

**Paul POV-**

I raced forward and jumped into the air, catching the falling woman before she hit the ground. A quick check of her pulse and breathing told me she had just exhausted herself with whatever the fuck she had just done.

"What the fuck was that?" I growled at the group of people surrounding the vampire, angel hybrid.

"She's done it!" Peter clapped me on the back and looked lovingly down at his sister, "It's sooner than I expected her to have that sort of strength but she's done it!"

"Is he going to be okay?" Leah asked, her throat thick with concern.

"He'll be good as new in an hour or so, can't you hear it Leah?"

"Hear what?" She asked, looking over her mate.

"His pulse." The fucker just beamed at her.

It was that moment that the rest of us took a moment to really look at Jasper. His skin was lightly pink, like it would be if he was very warm. Peter turned him over and showed us the detailed tattoo that all the Angels had instead of the almost blistered burn scars he'd had.

"What did she do?" Leah asked worriedly.

"She mainly expelled the vampire part of him and brought back what he was supposed to be. She shared her life force with him." As he spoke, the color drained from Jasper's hair into an ink like black.

"That's my girl!" I muttered, leaving them to fawn over Jasper while I put her in her bed to rest.

We continued preparing for the party that night while Peter and Angela tended to Bella and Char and Leah tended to Jasper. He woke up before she did, bouncing around the house like a caffeine junky, happy to be alive. In the literal sense.

**Bella POV-**

I awoke to the whispered conversation in my room. Peter was grinning at me like a fool and I was unsure of how I had come to fall asleep in the first place. I remembered what had happened, I just didn't understand how or why. What had driven me to do what I had done, why was Peter smiling after I killed the man he considered a brother.

"What the hell was all that?" I asked, my voice rough from exhaustion.

"Well, there are some things I need to explain first darlin'," He smiled reassuringly and took my hand, "There is a reason you are the way you are."

"What do you mean?" I asked him tensely, truly fearing his answer.

"Your gift, honey. The gift of Sharing. There is a reason it makes you so unique. Have you not considered all of the things you share with the people you care for? Your home, your clothes, your money, your food, your love. All of those things are the things you give to each of us so freely, yet you never ask for anything in return. You also have the ability to share something else other than your memories."

"And what's that?"

"Your life force. Your energy." He smirked, "You did that today."

"I did what?" I asked, staring at my brother like he'd lost his mind.

"You brought me back from the dead!" Another voice announced as Jasper bounded into the room and jumped into the bed to give me a hug. Only, it wasn't vampire hybrid Jasper, it was ink haired, blue eyed, soft feeling Jasper. He was no longer tainted with the vampire, he was no longer tainted at all, he was an Angel and that was all he was. There were no demons warring with the Angels in his eyes, no good versus evil, no pain, no sense of not belonging anywhere. I started crying instantly and he joined me, allowing his own tears to fall. "Thank you." He whispered.

"I don't know that you should be thanking me. I have no idea how I did it or why other than I hated seeing that heart broken look on your face." I shrugged.

"You are strange, you would give your life just so someone else doesn't have to be hurt. Actually that is exactly what you did for me today." He smiled and brushed my hair behind my ear, "You gave me some of your life, and all of mine. Thank you." He bent down and kissed my forehead before dashing out of the room.

Feeling suddenly lighter, I got up to join in the preparations for the party that night. All the while Peter's words from the night before about a woman taking what she wants creeping into my mind. I thought over those words while I cleaned the house. What was stopping me from going after what I wanted? I was obviously stronger than I thought I was, and from what everyone had been saying to me since making Jasper's heart beat, I had a lot to offer a man. The worst that could happen was Paul rejected me. I had dealt with rejection before hadn't I? I began to bide my time as everyone arrived and music was kicked up. I watched as everyone enjoyed themselves and even had a pretty decent time myself. When things began winding down, I began formulating ideas on how to deal with my situation. I finished up the dishes and turned to face him.

Paul was leaning against the kitchen doorway talking to Embry and Jared as if it were any normal day. I decided I was going to toy with him as he had been toying with me, but I would be more cruel about it, if I succeeded, he would want me back soon. I stared at him, trying to figure out what to do first. I slowly dried my hands while I stared. He glanced over at me and looked away quickly, not wanting to be caught looking my way. There was only one thing I wanted to do, well, other than slap the shit out of him. I tossed the towel on the counter as I walked over to him with purpose. The other two parted as I approached so I was able to just grab two handfuls of his shirt and shove him back against the doorframe hard.

"Bella what the-" He didn't get to finish his question because I crushed my mouth to his. He was shocked and frozen at first, everyone was. But he melted against me and started to kiss me back. That was when I pulled away abruptly as if I'd done nothing out of the ordinary and turned to the others.

"Well, goodnight everyone!" I said cheerfully and went to my room.

Paul POV-

One second I am talking to Jared and Embry, the next I'm shoved forcefully against the wall. Then I've got her lips against mine, she was being forceful, I was so shocked. Then as soon as I started to give in, the little minx pulls away, bids everyone goodnight, and flits up the fucking stairs.

Everyone was staring after her at first, then all eyes turned to me, my face was a mask of shock. She'd fucking played me like a piano! I had thought Bella sweet and giving, but no, she had to go and prove that she was cruel! That was heartless, you don't leave a man hanging like that.

"What the fuck!" I growled.

"Serves you right." Sam smirked.

"That was bull shit." I frowned pathetically.

Quil looked toward the stairs thoughtfully, "You gotta admit though, it was fucking hot!"

I said nothing, she had taken control, she had made the first move and she hadn't been gentle in the least. Yeah, it was hot! There was nothing that got a man's blood boiling faster than a gorgeous girl showing you that she was going to make you chase her. She wanted to play it that way, I was definitely game.

"And thus the game begins." I smirked, "I'll see you guys tomorrow." I decided to go home before I went up those stairs and took her by force.

It was difficult, deciding whether to chase her or let her continue her game. Either way she would be giving me hell and I knew it. I had waited too long. The main thing that nagged at me though, was that she wanted me too. I prayed to the gods that she wasn't just toying with my emotions because she had nothing better to do. I got home and showered before throwing myself into bed, I fell asleep and as always, saw her face in all my dreams. I was no longer worrying that I wasn't good enough, if she wanted me, I would give her what she wanted.

When I woke up the next morning I was in a chipper fucking mood. I practically skipped to Bella's house, but when I arrived she wasn't there. Peter and Jasper were sitting at the kitchen counter eating sandwiches.

"Where are the girls?" I asked.

"Shopping. Bella woke up at the ass crack of dawn and dragged them out for a girls day." Jasper smirked, "And I think it is your fault."

"Yeah, fucker! What game are you playing at with my baby sister?" Peter frowned.

"I'm not playing games." I shrugged, "I suppose I'll go ahead and let the two of you in on the big secret. You've noticed that all the guys are giving me hell, right?"

"Is that what they're doing?" Jasper asked sarcastically.

"I imprinted on Bella." I sighed.

"Bout fucking time you own up to that shit, we already knew. Why the hell haven't you told her?"

"I don't want her to feel obligated to be with me and there is no way in hell she would want me on her own."

"You are a stupid man." Peter laughed, "I'm only going to tell you this once, that girl doesn't show her emotions as clearly as everyone thinks."

"Also, when I first met her she didn't even look at any guys. You are the first guy I've ever seen her notice without being forced." Jasper added.

"Dude, I tried so fucking hard to get her to be with me. She wouldn't have thought about it, even before I broke her." Jacob said overhearing the conversation from the living room. "Now she won't even fucking talk to me, it's like I don't exist."

"That's because you said the most horrible fucking thing you could have, dick!" Jasper growled, his eyes threatening violence. I looked to Peter, his eyes reflected the same emotion, and from the feeling of my face, my own probably did as well.

"You are just an ignorant pup." I sneered, turning my back to the kid, he couldn't help the fact that he was a complete and utter fucking moron.

We sat around and played video games for a few hours, but paused the game when we heard the girls pull up outside. The rest of the guys had gotten there and were taking bets on the video games we were playing, so when the pause button was pressed, groans echoed through the room. They cut off though, as soon as the girls walked in the door.

The girls were dressed to the nines and had all the men panting. My eyes fell on Bella and none of the others even existed. She was wearing a black backless top with a plunging neckline and this tiny black piece of fabric that clung to the tops of her thighs, a black mini. I let my eyes trail down her milky white legs to the four inch heels on her feet, then back up to her freshly done nails and her bouncing curls. When I met her eyes, she had one eyebrow raised in my direction and a wicked smirk planted firmly on her face.

She walked across the room and bent down slightly in front of me, placing her forefinger under my chin and closing my mouth for me. She winked at me then plopped down on the couch so that her body was but an inch from mine. I could feel her heat, and I itched to touch her, to just brush against her, but something told me she had sat there on purpose, she knew if I touched her it wouldn't be accidental. I was fucked.

"So boys, what are we playing?" She asked way too innocently.

I tore my gaze away from her and scanned the faces of all the others, every single one of them looked so fucking smug in that moment that I almost choked. I stood up and walked outside for a breath of non smug air, she followed with a smirk.

"You are a cruel woman, Bella." I told her, shaking my head, "What you did last night was uncalled for."

"Consider it payback Paul." She chuckled wickedly, "For all those times you look at me as if you feel something and then look away before you think I notice."

"I'm not looking at you as if I feel something." I told her, looking up and becoming frozen in her gaze. "I do feel something, I always have, since we were kids."

"Wait, what?" Her eyes went wide, so I decided to just tell her and get it over with.

"Bella, I've known you since you were four. It was the first time I saw you and I cared about you even then. Then that night in the hospital, I realized I-" She cut me off by placing a finger to my lips.

Her head was tilted to the side, her nostrils flared. She moved her finger only to take off running into the forest with urgency.

"Jasper, Peter, Sam! Bella just ran off!" I yelled into the house.

"Did you scare her off already?" Sam asked.

"No, it wasn't me, it was something else!" I growled, feeling the first strings of panic filtering into my body.


	15. Icky Vicky

**_Okay guys, so I had the rest of the story written out. But then I was reading over it and I really just didn't like it. It fell flat of my own expectations and was really anti-climactic. I deleted the ending I had and I'm currently rewriting it. So I may not update as quickly as I would like. I do appreciate the patience you are all exhibiting for my updates. I just moved into a new house and didn't have internet for awhile, which was killing me. Lol. I know I'm dragging things out between Paul and Bella and I know that Bella was maybe a little too mean to Paul, but it was necessary and she knows she was wrong. Have you ever been so frustrated that it leaks out in the most random ways? That's what she was dealing with. I hope you still love me after this chapter, but if not, please don't tell me, ignorance is bliss. ;) Enjoy!_**

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><p><strong>Bella POV-<strong>

Paul was trying to tell me something important, something I wanted and needed to hear. I had heard something in the distance, the breeze coming our way from the ocean carrying the faintest of scents. Death, decay, vampire. I had stopped him from talking long enough to be sure, then I was off like a bullet in the direction of it. I didn't think, it was instinctual for me to face it.

As I cleared the trees, I stopped. I took a moment to stare at the scene before me, Red hair being blown back by the breeze. A serene smile twisting the demented features of the monster that had spent so much time hunting me. I wanted her death, her true death.

"This better be fucking important Victoria, you were interrupting a very important conversation." I growled.

She spun around, her eyes wide and seemingly innocent. She had been surprised that I was the one to find her. "Bella, how nice of you to make this so easy for me." She smirked, thinking I was still human. She had no way to know the difference.

"Is this all really because of James? Why would he be worth the trouble? He couldn't even find the right end of a shampoo bottle, plus, he smelled of death." I examined my nails, "Actually, that one I can understand, because you smell the same, but really, who would want a guy that can't even wash his hair or clean the blood out from under his nails after a hunt?"

"You bitch!" She snarled, darting at me at full speed. I clothes lined the bitch.

We fought, pretty evenly matched, but it could only have been attributed to a gift, the same one that had kept her out of the clutches of the wolves. It was punch for punch, she got a lucky move in and her hand suddenly wrapped around the column of my throat. She lifted me off the ground and smirked. That was when his scent hit me, Paul. It only took a second. My eyes flickered to the forest in concern for him, I didn't want him fighting her, she was too fast for him. In that second of distraction, Victoria's other hand flew forward, and sank into my chest with a sickening pop. A choking noise escaped my throat as I could literally feel her grip around my heart through the fucking hole in my chest, and I knew I had to disconnect her arm before she could crush it.

My eyes wildly searched the trees, I didn't want him to see me like that. I didn't want him to see me lose. My arm reached out, gripping her shoulder tightly. She met my gaze and snarled, knowing my intention, but I disconnected her arm before she had a chance to react. I felt her grip around my heart fall slack and pulled her arm out of my chest. A smirk ghosted over my lips as I flipped her arm around and slapped her with it. I tossed it away from us and watched it twitch as I wrapped my fingers in her hair and yanked her forward, against me. My hand ghosted over her face, just missing my own blood that had coated her disconnected arm.

"Doesn't it smell divine, Victoria?" I cooed at her rending her other arm from her body and tossing it over my head. "It seems you're too late."

"You'll die from that wound." She seethed.

"But I'm taking you with me, bitch!" I growled, cupping her chin and twisting her head clean off. I chuckled as it rolled across the ground.

As her dismembered corpse fell from my grasp, my strength left me. My entire front was soaked with blood and my shirt was matted down from it. As I fell to my knees, I saw the lupine figures stepping out of the trees, one of which came straight to me and sniffed at the hole in my chest before leaning down.

"It's okay, Paul. It's only a flesh wound." I gasped for air around the agony I felt. I was surely going to die. "I need to tell you." I whispered, then everything went black.

**Jasper POV**-

As Bella fell to the ground, I realized, we were too late. We'd thought nothing serious had happened, because Peter's ability told him nothing. It had taken us too long to arrive. She would die because of our carelessness.

A high pitched whine echoed out over the cliff as the silver wolf collapsed beside the frail looking woman. Charlotte raced over and swept Bella into her arms before taking off toward the house and motioning for us to follow. The others did, and I went over to help the fallen wolf, Paul growled dejectedly and accepted the help.

When we arrived at the house, a series of growls filled the air and I groaned. There was rage, murderous rage, and fear. The fear was coming from the blonde standing in the back yard and her brute of a mate. They took in the scene, golden eyes roaming over the wolves and finally landing on the still bleeding girl in Charlotte's arms. Both of the newcomers released feral snarls at the rest of the group. A fierce sense of protective love coming from both of them.

"They are friends, I swear it." I told the others.

The growling quieted, but didn't disappear. "They can help." I sighed tiredly. "Rosalie has medical training and can perform surgery, get Bella up to her room and let Rose stitch her up."

Charlotte frowned uncertainly, but none of us had the medical know how to save Bella's life. It was lucky that they just happened to be there. I would ask them why later. The group of wolves went into the house to lay about and wait it out their tension was far to high to phase back. My hand swept comfortingly over Leah's soft fur and I followed Charlotte up to Bella's room.

"Jasper, what happened to her?" Emmet asked anxiously. His tension on high and his heartache building with every moment he looked at the broken girl he'd counted as family.

"Victoria." I murmured.

The men were cast from the room, all but Paul, who would not be torn from his mate come hell or high water. I leaned against the wall in the hallway and looked over at the only vampire I would ever consider a man.

"What are the two of you doing here?" I asked tensely.

"Well, some things have changed. There is an army being raised against the wolves here. We knew Victoria was involved and that it was all about Bella. We followed Victoria back here to save Bella and her father, there were some nasty things planned for them. When we got here, we smelled you, and we followed it to the house. Why did you disappear on us?"

"I couldn't live that life anymore. I had thought Alice was like you and Rose, but I was wrong. I'm happy here, Em. I found my mate and everything."

"One of the beastly wolves, downstairs?" He smirked to hide the turmoil he was feeling, "I didn't know you swung that way."

"She's all woman." I smirked.

"Except now she's a wolf."

"Yeah, except that." I chuckled.

"You've changed. Your hair and eyes." He leaned over and inhaled my scent, and cocked his head as if he was listening to something. "You're human. How the fuck did that happen?"

"I'll tell you some other time, when things have calmed down." I put a hand on his ice cold shoulder.

"You think I'd be able to do the same? Me and Rose?" He asked thoughtfully.

"You'd be giving up the super strength and senses. You'd have to get accustomed to being a human, Emmet. I don't know if you would be able to handle it."

"I'd give it all up for her." He nodded toward the door, "I've got all this power, all of these special abilities, but I can't give my soul mate the one thing she wants out of life. She wants to have children, to grow old with me, surrounded by fat grandkids. The extra stuff isn't worth it, not when you've weighed it against what we've had to give up to get it."

"The two of you really do want to be alive again, don't you?" I mused.

"We're in a world full of monsters, Jazz. Blood thirsty beasts who put on false faces and parade around in human skin. Edward got much worse after you left, he's fucking deranged. I think his ability to hear the thoughts of others finally drove him to the brink of insanity. He has himself convinced that he still loves her, he wants to have her and Alice both. Keeps muttering to himself about how it will feel to be inside her warm body while he's draining her, to have her love him with her dying breath. It's sick."

"You didn't follow Victoria." I accused.

He sighed, "Sadly, we did. Edward contacted her to head up the army. I couldn't let him do the things he was claiming he would. Not only would it mean raping my little sister, but he would violate her mind to fool her. I couldn't let him do that."

"He already did."

"You mean-?"

"Bella never loved him. He, Alice, and even Carlisle and Esme violated her mind to make her love them. Em, they already raped her, just not physically. She was a marionette and they were her masters." I placed my fingertips on my temples and exhaled, "Didn't you think it was strange that she was so agreeable all the time? Anytime she began to come into herself, he would put her back under the fog."

"You care about her."

"I hated what they were doing, which is a big part of why I took off. I got her out of the clutches of that sadistic bastard and I left. She's such an amazing person, her true self. I can't wait for you to meet her." I smiled.

"But I already have."

"The girl you met was not the real Bella, she was the puppet, acting on Edward's wishes. She's not brainless and meek, she's strong willed and she has an amazing heart. She'll also give Rose a run for her money and she won't stand for disrespect. She's a scrapper too. When I was still a vampire, she kicked my ass all over the back yard over a damned peanut butter sandwich. I ate the last of the peanut butter. We keep it well in stock now." I chuckled at the memory.

"She- She kicked your vampire ass? She's only a human."

"All will be explained in due time, what you need to know now, is that Bella is very special, to all of us."

The door to Bella's room opened and Rosalie stepped out. "I did everything I could. I wired her broken ribs back together so they can heal, I used the special ones that will dissolve when the calcium begins to reform. Her heart is intact and I stitched her up. She'll need to rest for a long while, to heal. Jazz, I think she'll make it, but I had to manually restart her heart twice. The wolf is in bed with her now and I can't get him to turn back and talk to me, but he keeps growling under his breath."

We pushed off the wall and stepped inside the room. I focused on said wolf and felt his gratitude and dismay intertwining with grudging respect. "He's grateful, but doesn't want to be." I told Rose, she only nodded.

"Who is that anyways?" Emmet asked, nodding toward the wolf in Bella's bed.

"Paul. He's Bella's mate, though he hasn't told her that yet."

A whine from the door caught my attention and I turned to find the two youngest wolves peeking in hesitantly. "And who are they?" Rose asked.

"Collin and Brady, Bella's adopted sons." Charlotte said quietly, backing away from the bed and allowing the cubs to come in and see Bella. After a warning growl from Paul, both of the wolves gingerly stepped up on the bed, one laying on the opposite side from Paul and the other laying across the foot of the bed and laying his head across Bella's legs. She'd been changed into one of her long night gowns for comfort.

Charlotte lovingly stroked the heads of both boys, then turned to look at Paul, "You guys are making her share your strength." She stated.

The massive head of the wolf raised enough to nod, then he returned it to his position. "How did you know you could?" She asked curiously.

Paul's eyes spoke measures and I realized he only knew because it had happened without him realizing. He'd most likely called on the twins to help. "Well, don't forget you guys are going to need to eat soon. Charlotte scolded, ignoring the growl she got in response.

"Let's leave them to it and go to the front room to talk. I'm sure everyone heard the reasoning behind why you are here, so you won't need to explain it a second time."

The scene in the living room was nearly as depressing as the one upstairs. The rest of the wolves were piled in the floor, seeking comfort in the only way the could. Angel was laying against Embry's side and he rumbled in his chest, trying to comfort her. Emily was in the same position with Sam, and Kim with Jared. Leah separated from the group and jumped up to the couch when I sat down, laying her head in my lap and whining softly.

Everyone was waiting, worrying, hurting, and anxious. Bella held us all together in some way and I knew without her we would all be lost. We were all part of something bigger, a family, and Bella was the heart of that family. The only person relaxed in the entire group was Peter, he was leaning back on the other couch, tired, but relieved.

"Want to clue the rest of us in?" I snapped at him.

"She's going to pull through. There is just one little thing we'll have to deal with while she's unconscious and by the time she wakes up, she'll be out of danger."

"What are you talking about?" Angela asked.

"Edward is making his move. He's going to try to take her."

A thunderous roar was released from up the stairs and it was followed by the sound of a gigantic animal racing through the house. Peter braced himself and Paul lunged, placing his paws on either side of the couch beside Peter's head. The wolf focused on him and growled right in his face.

"I'm not lying to you. I also won't be expecting you to stay behind with Bella while you rip the bastard apart." Peter smirked. "Bella will be fine with the twins, they can protect her. Alice can't see any of us, because of you, so we have the upper hand."

"When?" My voice was tense.

"Tomorrow. He'll act when Victoria doesn't report to him tonight."

I stood and looked at the wolves strewn across the floor, Leah was trembling with rage, she was ready to fight something. "Alright, all of you need to be familiar with Rosalie and Emmet's scents so you don't accidentally attack them during the battle." I frowned.

"Damn right, cause if you think we won't be there, you're dumber than you look." Emmet smirked.

The vampires were scented, with only minor wincing. The two humans went about making food and the rest of us prepared for the fight. We mapped out tactics and made sure everyone was well prepared. It was harder to communicate with the wolves because none of them would phase back, I noticed later on that it was because as long as they stayed phased, they had a direct link to Collin and Brady, which meant a direct link to Bella.

The next day, at dusk. Peter took us to the place where he knew the battle would take place. I could smell them all, there were quite a few. Their sense settling hard in my gut and making me want to vomit. I really hated the stench. Leah nudged my hand and I watched her nose wrinkle in disgust, I knew she felt the same. Finally they stepped within sight, there were fifteen of them, including the people who had called themselves loving parents.

"ANGELS TO THE SKY!" I bellowed, unsheathing my wings and shooting into the air, three of my siblings at my side, doing the same.


	16. When You Give Too Much

**_Okay Lovelies, first off, I wanna say THANK YOU! For all the wonderful reviews I've received. I was seriously thinking about stopping this story, but your reviews are keeping me going. So thanks for that. I'm also starting to work on something else, a fan-fiction for a manga series that I adore. It's called Ouran High School Host Club, and if you haven't read it yet, you totally should. That and Fruits Basket. Also currently I'm reading Kaichou wa Maid-sama, so far it's as great as the first two!  
><em>**

Okay, now that I've gone completely fangirl nerd on you for the moment, I suppose you only want your next chapter. Well, here you go, enjoy!

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><p><strong>Jasper POV-<strong>

After having plucked two vampires up and ripping them into shreds, I realized, more were pouring from the trees. Every wolf was fighting off two or more, my eyes scanned the crowd, looking for that shock of bronze hair that I should have kept my eyes on the entire time. I couldn't find it, had someone gotten him already and took him out?

I dove from the sky to face off with the only one that would have given me pause, Alice. "Hello Alice." I chuckled darkly.

"Hi, Jazzy! I don't know what the hell you are, but I'm going to have to kill you, okay?" She said cheerfully, launching her small frame at me.

I met her blow for blow, but I quickly got tired of her game and gripped her hair, pulling her against my chest. "Game." I told her, leaning down to use my teeth to separate her head from her body. She hadn't even had a chance to rearrange her features into anything that resembled her fear. After tossing her into the flames I went to lend a hand to Sam, who was fighting the two heads of the Cullen household.

As the numbers of vampires dwindled, I kept wondering where the hell that redhead had gotten to. The other members of his coven were of no consequence, but he was a tricky little shit.

An agonized howl lifted through the air and I turned to Peter, "Bella woke up, the twins are trying to keep her in bed."

We continued with the battle, limbs flying every which way, when the hell had that many come? A second, third, and fourth agonized howl rose into the air. Peter paused, "The twins have been hit! Mother fucker got to her! She's not strong enough to fight him alone!" He bellowed.

There was no way we could let anyone run off to help her, we would lose too many if we did something like that. I glanced in Leah's direction and she gave me a pleading look, I had to do something. I allowed my vision to pan across the battlefield, many of us were injured, getting weaker, we would lose. Some little newborn latched his claws into my arm and I bellowed before ripping his arm off and ramming it down his throat. Something clawed at my insides trying to get out, and for the first time, I let it. I let my carefully built walls crumble and I released my gift to its full potential. My eyes had closed with the intensity of it. When I slowly opened them again, it was to the sound of thuds. Ever creature that wasn't an angel dropped to the ground one by one. I didn't like having to put the wolves out, but I couldn't control that part. The angels only stood because they were harder to manipulate with my gift.

Peter gave me a nod, "I'm going to Bella, take their heads and burn the rest." He told me before taking flight.

Angela's hands shook and there was blood running down her arm, but she offered me a timid smile before leaning town to rip the head off of the vampire she'd been fighting. "Mind Em and Rose." I said to the girls, smiling to myself at the contradictory image Angela presented. She was such a quiet, timid girl, but anytime I'd seen her fighting she was fierce and dangerous. I added that to a list of things I didn't want directed at myself.

**Bella's POV-**

Paul was in trouble. It was the first thing that reached me through the black. He was in trouble and I needed to get to him! My eyes flew open and I found the twins, phased, lying on either side of me.

"I have to get to him." I told them.

Two massive heads told me no. They almost went as far as lying directly on me to keep me from getting up. "Come on, boys, he's hurt, I need to get to him!" I pleaded.

A soft growl from Collin was my only response, there was no way I was getting out of it. The soft growl turned into something else, a deafening roar as the hackles on both of their necks rose. They stood on the bed, facing the door in protective crouches, warning whoever had come to the other end to go away.

What the hell was happening? How long had I been out and what sort of trouble had the family been facing since I collapsed? What had I caused?

The door burst open and there in the falling debris was my worst nightmare realized. Edward fucking Cullen. He smirked at the two wolves and they lunged at the same time. It was a move he had seen before they made it and he was easily able to counter it. I couldn't tell what he did, but first one, then the other were thrown to the floor in a heap, and they didn't move. I slowly tore my eyes off of them to face Edward.

"What the fuck did you do to my boys?" I growled, making to stand and realizing my body was too weak to comply.

"They'll be fine in a day or so, the mongrels heal quickly. Now, come along Bella, it's not safe for a human such as yourself to be in such a dangerous place." His voice hinted at the insanity that his mind must have held, I gaped at him.

"I'm not going anywhere with you!" I growled.

He pinched the bridge of his nose and came to sit on the side of my bed, "Now, love, I've come to save you from these beasts. They are dangerous, they hurt people!" His eyes focused and unfocused on my own and I realized what he was trying to do.

"I said I'm not going anywhere with you!" I said, spitting in his face.

He wiped the mucus away and his eyes darkened, I saw his intent before his hand flashed out, meaning to strike me. Only it didn't, and he was shocked, because it was my own frail looking hand holding his wrist. "How did you-" He gasped.

I squeezed his wrist tightly, "Why the fuck do you think you have any right to hit me?" My grip slackened without my telling it to, my strength was waning.

"I don't know what you are, Bella, but you've made the game so much more interesting. I think I'll just take it from here." He smirked, using the wrist I gripped to push my arm back down to the bed, He switched things around a bit, so he was hovering over me, both of my hands pinned above my head and one of his knees forcing my legs apart. "While my army is keeping your friends busy, I think I'll keep myself busy." He chuckled darkly.

I tried to push him off of me, but my strength was too far gone from my run in with Victoria. His eyes wandered down my body and landed on my chest, he put both of my wrists in his one hand and pulled the bandage away, revealing the fact that I'd somehow made the wound bleed again. He dipped his head down to the wound and dragged his tongue along the tiny river of blood that had spilled.

He groaned, "My god you taste like heaven." Then he pressed himself into me, I tried to wriggle out of his grip, but he was stronger than me. There was no getting out of it for me, he was going to kill me and I was too weak to stop him. I was going to die, he was going to do whatever he wanted and I would die at the end.

I felt his hand clench the fabric of my gown at the hip and squeezed my eyes shut, trying not to vomit because of the overwhelming stench of death. My eyes popped open in alarm when I heard the sound of fabric tearing, I glanced down to watch him drag his finger down from the hole he'd made, ripping my gown as he went, all the way to the bottom. He leaned back to observe what he was doing and lifted the gown so he could see what he wanted. I felt his fingers dance across the inside of my thigh, cold and unwelcome.

"Edward, don't touch me!" I shouted.

His eyes filled with amusement as he looked up to meet my eyes, "Are you going to stop me?" He asked, laying the flat of his palm over my panties and pressing down firmly.

He was going to do far worse than kill me, it was then that I realized it. He had big plans for me. "I'm going to draw this out as long as I can." He laugh, pressing harder on my center and bending his head down to lick the new trail of blood from my wound.

I slammed my eyes shut once more, refusing to open them, willing the horror of the situation away. Something happened then, inside my mind, it was like I opened one door and slammed another shut with so much force that the walls trembled in fear. I could no longer feel him pressing against me, I could no longer feel the cold of his tongue on my skin, or the ice that was touching my skin anywhere else. I couldn't hear him breathing unnecessarily. He was gone.

"Bella, you can stop this." A warm voice called, "You can stop it, baby, please don't give up."

My eyes flew open and I was sitting on first beach, my toes were in the water and it was gently lapping up to my ankles in waves before pulling away again. The sun was warm on my face. The figure beside me caught my attention, I turned, wide eyed, to face my mother, Lorraine.

"Mother!" I gasped.

"Honey, don't do this, don't give up. Your body is weak, but you're forgetting your power." The woman was sobbing as she spoke, her hand on my shoulder in a comforting way.

"What do I do?" I asked her.

"The same thing you did for Jasper, do it again, but don't use too much energy, if you send too much of yourself out, you'll become lost." She touched my face, "It will be hard to control how much you send out because of the danger, but you've got to keep a tight hold on it, if you let your concentration slip for a second, you'll get stuck." She was fading away already because I was beginning to build up my power in myself.

I wondered idly what would happen to a vampire that wouldn't be able to become human again. The thought bounced around in my mind as my power built. Suddenly I was off the beach, slammed back into my body violently, long enough to hear the metallic teeth of a zipper popping apart and his sickening voice.

"I'm so glad you've decided to yield to me." He cooed.

I lost control, releasing everything I had built because I panicked. I vaguely felt air against my back as if I'd lifted off of my mattress and heard his surprised exclamation and the beginnings of his panic. But then, the ice touching me became warm, then hot as light flashed before my still closed eyelids. That was all I could do before I felt myself become disconnected again. I felt the warm water lapping all the way up to my knees and the gritty texture of sand against my skin. Slowly my eyes opened and I looked around. I was on a beach again, but it wasn't a beach I recognized.

"Shit!" I muttered, pushing myself off of the ground and attempting to brush the sand away. "I forced too much power out, what the hell am I going to do now?" My voice was high pitched and panicked. I was lost in my own fucking mind and I had no idea how to get back.

**Peter POV-**

I raced to the house as fast as my wings would carry me. I knew I needed to get to Bella, I had to make it in time! I crashed through the back door, shattering the glass and feeling it leave small cuts in my arms and face, they'd heal before I got up the stairs.

When I reached her doorway, I stumbled to a halt, she was levitating two feet off the bed with Edward panicking and trying to push himself off of her, something held him there though, pressed against her. The flash of light that erupted from her was brighter than a flash bomb and I had to look away and shield my eyes to keep from going blind. When I turned to look, it was only Bella, levitating off the bed still, with ash and cinder falling all around her like snow. My gift screamed at me, she'd given too much, so much power she'd turned the fucker to ash. She was lost!

I raced to her as she sank down from the air to slowly settle back into the bed.

"Bella?" I called, trying to get any kind of reaction from her. There was none.

I lifted her eyelids and was startled by the fact that the entirety of her eyes were swallowed in black, the pupil, iris, even the white of her eyes was completely gone. I'd never seen anything like it, and it made my stomach feel hollow. She'd pushed herself far beyond her limits and I wasn't sure if we'd be able to get her back.

"Bella?" I shouted again, tapping the side of her face.

'She's gone.' The voice of my gift told me, I forced myself to ignore it and broke down beside her bed.

"Please don't leave us." I whispered, "We need you, Bella, please."


	17. Always On My Mind

**_Okay Lovelies, first off, thank you so much for the reviews I 3 you all! They specially made me feel better today, you see, tomorrow the 8th anniversary of my best friends death. Today marks exactly eight years since I last spoke to him. I wasn't going to update today or tomorrow but your reviews made me smile and I decided it would take my mind off things. Also, I am going to post a particular review that I got the other day, because it made me laugh so hard when I read it. The review is from Aewnaur._**

**_"oooo an update already and i just begged for it.. yay me .. but.. whimper..  
>poor bella .. poor paul .. they had better get on the ball and call her back<br>quick.. but yay for ashing evil edward.. lol.. i was so thinking you were  
>going to just have him be a really old human.. hehe. he would have done well<br>as an old fart in a home for crazy old people.. lol.. he'd be all snapping his  
>teeth at people .. grr i'm a vampire, damn where'd my teeth go i just had them<br>in that glass.. hehehe.. oh well ash is good too.. thank you very much for the  
>update.. more soon i hope.. and oo i know all about getting sucked into new<br>fandoms just as you have a huge story to work on.. my downfall was prince of  
>tennis.. those darn mangaanimes will get you every time.. lol.. "_**

**_Thanks again for that review, I can totally see a geezer Edward because of it! Enjoy the chapter!_**

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><p><strong>Paul POV-<strong>

I sat on the edge of the bed, staring down at my mate. Things had happened too quickly, one moment I had been fighting, the next, I was waking up in the middle of a field with my brothers and sister, plus the two vampires that were apparently allied with us. My first coherent thought was of Bella and it sent me rocketing through the forest and through the broken remnants of the back door. If it hadn't been shattered already, I surely would have one so in my haste.

The glass cut into my paws, but it didn't matter, I had somewhere to be, someone who needed me. I got to the doorway to discover the strong smell of ash, two fallen brothers, unconscious but otherwise healthy, and an angel perched on the side of the bed, sobbing his brains out. He'd looked up when I entered, his eyes filled with such agony that I had to look away, he was burning from the inside out, he was in hell's most torturous fires. His words were filled with that agony, so thick that it reached out and took hold of me as soon as he spoke.

"I was too late, she's lost to us now."

It had been two days since that simple statement had been spoken, one since I was able to calm enough to turn back into a man. I stared down at my mate, having already lifted a single eyelid to see her blacked out eyes for myself. The startling reality of it all was that we had failed to keep her safe. We had all failed her, after everything she had done.

I had ruined things so far beyond repair, my mate lay broken because of me. I would never have the chance to tell her that I loved her, I hated the fact that I hadn't spoken the words yet. My soul mate was lost. I didn't want to face the day. How the hell would we get her back, where the hell had she gone, and why did her body lay there, empty?

I was hollow, empty myself, devoid of caring. Nothing mattered other than her quiet heartbeat, the pattern of her breathing, the scent of her saturating the air. The others were looking into a solution, but any theory they had come up with was highly unlikely to work and I wouldn't allow them to enter the room to test them. My mate was not a test subject!

My heart thundered heavily in my chest, stopping momentarily to quiver at the thought, what if she never came back? The twins peered into the room from the doorway, guarding her as they failed to do when there was danger before. They blamed themselves entirely, I was too busy berating myself to care that they had failed. The creep they were up against was a mind reader, it was obvious that they would fail.

An exclamation sounded out from downstairs, a visitor had shown up and the doorbell had surprised someone. I could vaguely hear the shuffling as they raced to the door.

"I think I've found the solution." A ragged, tired sounding voice said, "I know how we can get her back."

Sam. He hadn't slept since before the battle, and when he discovered what had happened to Bella he swore he wouldn't rest until he found the solution, so for two days he had searched and searched for the answer.

"There's a ritual, asking the spirits to allow someone into her subconscious. It's a very old ritual, and very dangerous. Whoever enters her subconscious will have to face the things in her subconscious, at the same time they'll have to seek her out and show her the connection she still has to this world."

"I'll do it!" I said loud enough for him to hear me downstairs.

"That's obvious, but you can't do it alone. The ritual calls for a group of four." Sam said from the hallway, looking into the room, "Besides, you are in no state to handle this alone."

"Us, we'll go too." The twins said in unison, peering up at Sam hopefully.

"Me too." Emmet offered.

"You can't, Emmet, this ritual calls for a heartbeat." Sam told him, they'd gotten close.

"I can't sit here and do nothing, she's my little sister!"

"Actually, she's mine, and I do believe I will go. This is all my fault anyways." Peter frowned, coming into the doorway as well.

"I'll need to keep things on this end together, or else I'd fight for the chance to go." Sam muttered.

"How does it all work?" I asked, "And when can we go in and bring her back?"

"I'll set everything up, she can stay up here but I'll need to pour sand in a circle around her, then you guys will need to go outside into the yard."

Three hours passed, each time the clock ticked I flinched, Sam had gone over the ritual with us and it sounded ridiculous. By this point though, I was ready to try anything. We were in the yard, the sand mixture had been poured around Bella's still form, luckily her bed was huge.

The four of us that were going to try and enter her mind were sitting around a fire, a circle around us that no one was allowed to cross until we returned to our own minds after completing the ritual. We were each shirtless, a symbol painted on our chests to represent the four elements, the circle around us represented the spirits. We spoke the prayer and each gave our offering, a single drop of blood from each of us directly into the fire. I was first and I massaged out the single drop. Immediately, I felt a tug in my stomach, could that have meant it was going to work? Collin followed suit and his hand too fell to his stomach, Peter was next, then Brady. The flames turned white, then green, then they turned black and grew to a height above our heads. In that moment, the knot in my stomach tightened and my vision went black.

I groaned in pain as my face connected with concrete. I pulled myself into a sitting position and waited for my vision to come back to me. I was with the guys, and they were pulling themselves up from the ground as well.

"Damn that hurt." I muttered, rubbing the side of my face. "Where the fuck are we?"

I took a look around, it seemed we were in the warehouse section of Port Angeles. The streets were crawling with men, and every single one of them had a predatory gleam in their eye as they looked at us. Apparently, they were supposed to look at us as they did Bella.

They lunged as one, and we were fighting them off, quite effectively, when the scene melted away. Brady crashed to the ground, having lunged at one of the men during the fight.

"What the hell?" He growled, jumping to his feet.

"We are definitely not in Kansas anymore." Peter sighed, looking around for himself.

We were in an abandoned ballet studio, so unused that ivy grew along the cracked and broken mirrors. A dark chuckle sounded through the room and I turned to look, almost choking on my tongue when I did. I never again wanted to see the sight before us, it was the guy, the one that had hurt Bella in Phoenix, the vampire, only he was ten feet tall.

"Shit!" Collin gasped.

"What the fuck is wrong with Bella's head?" I growled.

"This is the way she sees it in her mind, it's one of her most feared memories, she was put through so much." Peter told me.

As a unit we attacked the fucking thing, and after a great amount of effort on our part, we were finally able to bring the fucker down. Only, when I finally got his head off, it rolled off to the side and laughed at me. The body reached up so the hand could wrap around my throat. I choked and spluttered to the others, it was Peter that saved my ass.

"Thanks man." I coughed.

"No problem." He smirked, the scene melted away once more.

When the new scene formed, it was simple, a rope bridge, but it disappeared into a thick fog. "Dude, Mom's head is a messed up place." Brady observed.

"If you are going to use the English language, use it properly!" I snapped, then both of my hands flew over my mouth, "Oh dear!"

Peter was too busy laughing his ass off to respond, and the twins were just gaping at me.

"Let's go, we have to save mom." Brady began to walk forward bravely, his jaw set in determination.

"But, Brady, we don't know if we're strong enough to face what's along the way. Maybe we're not worthy of mom." Collin replied meekly.

Peter was looking between the three of us curiously. "Damn," He muttered, "The manipulation, the mind rape, that's the foe we are dealing with now."

"How do you suppose we will fight something we cannot fathom?" I asked.

He smirked at me, "I believe we just need to get across this bridge."

"As soon as we do, I believe I shall let loose a string of profanity to rival that of Satan himself." I told him, he laughed.

"I thought you were a scary mother fucker before, but somehow, this is more terrifying." He told me, clapping me on the shoulder.

"Language!" I scolded, dragging my hand across my face in irritation, was I doomed to speak like that for the rest of this head trip? I would go to say something and when the words tumbled out of my mouth they were completely different.

We started forward, trying not to talk because we couldn't be sure of what we would say. Collin was muttering to himself under his breath about not being good enough and hoping like hell he could still save Bella. Brady was willing to sacrifice himself to save her. Peter seemed unaffected, but a little emotionless, and I was keeping my mouth shut to keep from saying things that made me feel like a sissy. There was no since of time in that place, which terrified the hell out of me, what if days were passing on that stupid bridge?

An eternity later we saw it, the other side, the end of the bridge. I smiled softly to myself in relief. As we got closer though, the bridge snapped beneath us. I grabbed hold of the rope and held tight, the twins did the same, and the winged fucker just took to the sky. "God Bless it!" I bellowed when the rope jerked with the impact and pulled my shoulder out of socket.

Peter went below me and threw both pups over his shoulders, he took them up to the cliff and set the down before coming down to grab me. I was thrown, unceremoniously onto my ass and glared up at the clown. "Now I understand why there needed to be more than one." He mused, placing a knee on my back and moving my arm to put my shoulder back in place.

"FUCK!" I growled.

"Hey, I cured both of your problems!" He laughed cheerfully.

I looked over to the twins and they seemed to be back to normal too. "Collin? You worthy now?" I asked him.

"Hell yes I'm worthy. That was fucking ridiculous, that's what they made her feel about herself? If they weren't dead I'd be after their heads now." He glared at the ground.

"They made her reckless too, she'd jump off a cliff so that dildo would smile just once."

"Men, I think that was the last thing we would have to face personally." Peter chimed in, "But take a look at this." He was motioning to the vastness around us.

I stood and too a look, it seemed we were surrounded by things from Bella's mind. To my left were giant snakes, next to that were fucking teddy bears with fangs. "What the hell is wrong with this woman's head?" I asked.

Then there were vast empty places, the forest, a warehouse, and places that just looked fucking creepy. Then came the thing that stopped me in my tracks, a field, bodies laid out with their necks at odd angles. Every face I recognized, every face I knew. She feared losing all of us. I sought out my own face and found it, my chest bloody, a bloody handprint on my cheek that was too small to be my own hand.

"I think we are supposed to choose a path." Peter sighed, interrupting my thoughts on the most fucking horrifying scene I'd ever encountered.

"Which do we choose?" Brady asked.

"The forest." I muttered, "When that bastard left her, that's where he did it. She felt so alone and empty there because with him, he took the control."

"Let's get going then, shall we?" Peter smiled, leading the way.

"You know, if I were seeing this on my own, I'd me scared shitless." Collin muttered.

"Why? It's just a bunch of trees."

"But it's just so vast and empty, there would be no one but me. I've always had Brady, I've never felt alone in my entire life."

I turned to face him. It had been a long time for me, but I'd felt alone in the world before. I was too young to really understand it though. Once I met Jared, I never felt alone again until I was sitting on that bed, staring at the still form of my mate. I said nothing and we pushed forward through the forest.

Eventually, Peter stopped and looked around, frowning, " Are we going in circles?"

I chuckled at him, "No, it just seems that way. We may be in her subconscious, but it's the same forest as it is in reality. The boys and I know this forest like the back of our hands."

The breeze shifted and all of our heads jerked in the direction it came from.

"Finally!" The twins shouted in unison. I was already running.

I heard a scream of anger just as I cleared the trees and stepped onto the sand.

"I want to go home! Do you hear me? I want to go home to my family!" She yelled out at the chaotic sea. It seemed to be mirroring her emotions. "I can't stay here, I haven't had the chance to tell him!" She picked up a rock the size of her head and threw it with all her might. It flew into the sky and instead of arcing back down and crashing into the waves, it hit the sky, and sent a huge crack throughout it. The sky turned many colors around the fissure, like a plasma screen when something hits it. She was breaking her own subconscious.

"Stop her!" Peter growled low in my ear, "If she shatters it, we'll all be lost here!"

I raced forward, the breeze blowing her blissfully sweet sent in my direction. She had just noticed my arrival when I got my arms around her and pulled her to my chest.

"Paul?" She gasped.


	18. Over The River and Through The Woods

**_I'm not at all pleased with how this chapter ended, but I had such a hard time writing it. This was the best I could do and I apologize that it lacks creativity and may fall flat. Thank you all for your reviews and compliments, they mean so much to me! Sadly, this story seems to be winding down as well and there will only be one or two more chapters after this one. I'm debating on writing a Peter/Bella story after this, but I haven't decided yet. I'm also working on a few things for Ouran High School Host Club. I hope you enjoy, and please don't hate me if it's bad!_**

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><p><strong>Paul POV-<strong>

Her arms had hesitantly wrapped around my waist for a moment, but then she shoved me away.

"You're just a hallucination. I'm lost in my own mind, of course I would conjure you up." She sighed, staring at the ground.

"I'm not a figment!" I growled, causing her to look up at me with a spark of anger dancing behind her eyes.

"Then how did you get here? Explain that to me, fucker!" She snapped.

"Well," Began a voice to my left, I turned to see Peter walking toward us with a smirk on his face, "We just jumped down the rabbit hole and after dealing with tweedle dumb and all of your other fucked up imaginings, not to mention the cluster fuck that was the mind rape on that bridge, we just went over the river and through the woods, and now we're here."

Bella gaped at him, "Not one bit of that made any amount of sense."

"It did if you are me, I'm hurt." He pouted.

"How did you guys get here?" She asked again, looking over the four of us.

"Magic." I shrugged.

"You've got to be joking, right?"

"Yup." Peter smirked, "Three werewolves and an angel walk into your mind," He paused, "Not sure what the punch line would be though. You coming home with us or not?"

"Magic isn't real." Bella frowned.

"Are you stupid?" I snapped, "You're an angel, you're having a conversation inside your head with another angel and three werewolves, where the hell in your life has there never been any magic?"

"You're still a figment." She pouted.

"Damn it woman, are you always going to be so damn stubborn?" I shouted at her.

She fixed me with a stubborn glare, "Probably. Unless you can prove to me you aren't a figme-"

I'd gotten tired of hearing the word so I stopped her the only way I could, I'd grabbed her wrist and yanked her to me crashing my mouth down on hers. I needed to show her how much I needed her. After hungrily attacking her mouth, the three others turning their backs out of respect, and a moment where breathing became necessary, I pulled away, only to lean my forehead against hers.

"I'll take it." I told her.

"What?" She panted.

"Your stubbornness. I'll take it, all of it, everything you are, I'll take it. You can't stay here." A sound above us made me look up for a split second, then I resumed my position, "Your subconscious is coming apart, but it's different from before. This time I'm sure, I am so damn sure that I'm risking everything for this, if we make this world crash down around us, it'll take us home."

"Paul." She whispered, but it was swallowed in the sound of another crack stretching across the sky.

"Bella, you're needed at home. You are the glue, the thing that keeps us together. We can't lose you. I can't lose you." I took a much needed breath and wrapped my arms loosely around her waist. "I've been in love with you forever. I should have said it everyday since I knew and because I'm stupid I almost lost the chance. So I'll take it, anything you can throw at me, I'll take it. I've been inside your mind, and I've seen some damn scary things here, but I'll still take it. You are mine, and I am yours, I've always been yours and I always will be. So that means if you intend to stay here, I will remain by your side." Another resounding crack and a large portion of the sky fell, beyond it I could see what looked like the ceiling of Bella's room, I had been right.

"What are you saying? Do you mean this, all of it?" Her voice was shaking.

"I tried to tell you before that redheaded bitch got in my way. You're stubborn and temperamental, you hide yourself from everyone else and you give too much of yourself away. Sometimes you are cruel and you tease me, but I'll take it. I'm going to ask you for a favor, it's the only thing I need, the only request I'll make of you, and it would make me so happy."

"Anything." She gasped, another large chunk of the sky falling.

"Give yourself to me, do that and I'll never take too much, I'll never let you get hurt like this again. I'll spend an eternity by your side and you'll never have to change a thing. When the trouble is behind us, be mine, we've both waited so long for this." My voice was shaking.

She considered it for a moment, then the ground beneath our feet began to tremble and come apart, she looked up toward the sky as it continued to fall piece by piece, the ocean drained away through the cracks in the ground. Suddenly, her arms wound themselves around my waist and she pulled me as close to her as she could. "Okay." She told me, the reality took that as it's sign and everything began to happen very quickly, the ground coming apart, the sky losing much larger pieces.

"Hold on to your hats, kids, this is going to be one hell of a ride!" Peter shouted, grabbing the twins and pulling them to him before jumping to where Bella and I were, we each reached out a hand and pulled them onto the same circle of ground we were on, just big enough for the five of us to stand on.

We covered ourselves to keep the debris from hitting us and watched the surrounding chaos. A light began to glow from Bella so I turned to look at her, the light was growing in her chest, getting larger and brighter. Suddenly it exploded and sent all five of us in different directions.

The next thing I was conscious of was the fact that I was laying on the ground again. "Damn it, this shit is ridiculous." I moaned as I blinked my eyes furiously to clear my vision and pushed myself up from the ground. When my vision cleared, I realized that the others were staring at us in shock and that the circle had been broken when we were thrown back from the fire.

"Quit complaining." I heard from the doorway of the house, everyone turned to gape at the same time, "At least you didn't wake up covered in sand."

"BELLA?" The collective group shouted in shock.

"Who did you think we were going after?" Collin shouted irritably.

"You mean to tell me you were all so busy gawking at us that you left her to wake up alone?" I growled.

"No, I didn't wake up alone, Jacob was in my room, but for some reason I wasn't too happy to see him, he's unconscious now." Bella shrugged, receiving hugs from everyone in the group. She then turned to face me, "So you weren't a figment after all?" She asked.

"Nope." I smirked.

"Does our agreement still stand?" She asked me, causing strange looks to be passed around.

"Yup." My smirk widened.

"I was so hoping you would say that." She smiled, marching straight up to me and grabbing the back of my neck to pull me down for a kiss.

I allowed her to control the kiss, with one minor change, instead of having to bend down to her level, I snaked an arm around her waist and pulled her against my chest so that her feet dangled off the ground. I ran my tongue along her bottom lip and was vaguely aware that someone was cheering when she granted me access. The rest of the world had long since melted away. I was enjoying the leisurely pace of our kiss, until the little minx bit my tongue sharply.

"Ouch!" I shouted.

She smiled a mischievous smile and whispered, " I love you too."

"Minx." I chided, "You're such a minx."

"And you said you'd take whatever I threw at you." She countered.

"Yeah, I did say that, didn't I?"

I carried her into the house in my arms and she leaned her head against my chest. We were both content with the words that had already been said, and we were practically humming with energy.

"Um, Paul?" Bella asked.

"Yeah, babe?"

"Why did you show up in my mind half naked? It's not that I mind, but that's why I thought you were a figment."

"Huh?"

"If I were to imagine you, it would be shirtless, of course." She told me, "Shirtless and unashamed, because you have nothing to be ashamed of."

I suddenly remembered that she was right and froze for half a second before continuing inside. "Really, I was just so focused on getting you back that I forgot."

"How long were we out anyways?" Brady asked, between shoveling food into his mouth.

"Three days." Sam shrugged. "It was supposed to only take one. We were worried, but there was nothing we could do."

"You should see the shit this one has in her head." Peter reached over to ruffle Bella's hair and chuckled, "Vampire bears, really little sister?"

"My mom showed me a movie like that once and it was so terrifying that I had nightmares for a year. Then two months after I saw the movie, she thought she'd get me a new teddy bear as a joke. I screamed and burned it to cinder."

"You have one scary mind." Sam muttered, in awe.

"No, that's not the best part, the best part was the shit in there from when she was manipulated! It had Paul talking like a proper gentleman."

"Fuck you." I smirked at him, "God it feels good to say that now! I think I took it for granted before."

"Collin was so insecure I was afraid he would wet himself." Brady informed the group. His twin immediately pinned him to the floor and they began wrestling back and forth.

I turned to watch Bella as her eyes fell on them, hoping it wouldn't stress her out. She just smiled warmly while she watched.

"I'm so glad to be home." She murmured.

After eating dinner that night and getting a good night's sleep, Bella dragged the girls out for shopping early the next morning. She'd done so because she had spent what felt like years on a beach with no one. I decided that I'd make the food for that day and was grilling meat for dinner when the women arrived home. Bella walked up behind me and wrapped her arms around my waist, laying her head on my back. I smiled to myself and placed a hand over her arms.

"Why didn't you tell me when you first imprinted? Did you have your choice taken away?" She said quietly.

I stilled, but handed the grill over to Sam before pulling Bella away from everyone. "Why would you think that?"

"You didn't tell me."

"I didn't want to take your choices away." I frowned and pulled her into my arms before sitting down with her in my lap. "You've had so many choices taken away from you that I couldn't bear to do it myself. Besides, I just don't feel worthy of you at all. You are so giving and so caring, just all around an amazing creature, and you were sent directly to me from heaven. There was no way I could deserve you. I knew if I told you, even if you didn't want me back, you would be with me for my sake."

"I've loved you since that day on the basketball court, when you knocked me over. I was in your way."

"No," I smiled, "You were my way. I just didn't want to admit it back then because of my fucked up past."

"I love you, you know." She smiled, leaning forward to kiss my nose.

"Yeah, I love you too." I told her.

The food was served, and eaten, then Bella dragged me away from the house. We ended up at the cliffs staring over the water. The mood was somewhat soured because of what had happened to her there, but she turned back to me and smirked, her white dress catching the breeze and twisting around her legs.

"Well, come on, there is something you need to see." She told me, grabbing my arm and tugging me with her as she ran full tilt off the cliff.

"What the hell are you do-" I cut off as we plummeted to the churning waters below.

Surprisingly, we didn't lose our grip on each other as we hit the water, I pulled both of us to the surface with ease and she smiled at me. "What are you doing?"

"Take a huge breath and follow me." She told me, taking in a gulp of air and dunking her head back under the surface.

I did as she asked and allowed her to guide me deeper into the water, it was almost too dark to see, but she seemed to know where she was going. Again we surfaced, but it was dark. I looked around, discovering that she had dragged me into an underwater cavern. It was vast, with a beach, and the walls glinted as if there were stones embedded in the walls, there was a small spot where the sun peaked through from another opening up higher.

I had released her hand and waded into the more shallow water to look around. It was amazing, I heard her wading through the water and smiled to myself. "So this is what you wanted to show me?" I asked her, still not looking at her.

"No." She said, "This is." I could almost hear a smirk in her voice.

I turned to face her and she was standing on the beach, her hands were reaching up to untie her dress, which had clung to her in the most enticing way. With her eyes locked on mine she untied the top of the dress and peeled it down her body, kicking it away after it fell to the ground.

I gaped at her, she was standing there with nothing but a small scrap of fabric covering her.

"Breathtaking." I told her, coming out of the water and pulling her against me, "Utterly breathtaking." My hand slid up her side as I leaned down, it connected with her breast the same time my mouth captured hers.

"Hm." She mused after breaking away from me, "I guess I won't have to try very hard to seduce you." She pulled away just enough to reach her hand down and palm my erection through my shorts.

"Never." I groaned, pulling her against me once more and tugging hopefully at the lace covering her, "Who knew you were such a little minx."

"It's not something I show to everyone." She chuckled, using her thumb to snap the button of my shorts open, then she began to lower my zipper in an agonizingly slow manner. She shoved the jeans down over my hips and pulled back again so they could fall. She looked down and a seductive smile lit her face, "Well, now I feel overdressed."

I took that as my cue to rip her underwear to shreds. She looked shocked for a second, then said, "Someone's impati-" I cut her off with my mouth on hers as I lifted her off the ground and cupped her ass with my hands, making her wrap her legs around my waist.

I broke away from her mouth and kissed down her neck, "You talk too much." I told her, nipping playfully at her skin. I positioned myself at her entrance and looked to her for permission, she bit her lower lip and nodded, slowly, I entered her, pushing past her barrier.

We both released a gasp, mine of shock and hers of slight pain. I'd suspected she was a virgin, but I hadn't known for sure. I gave her a moment to adjust and it wasn't long before she wiggled impatiently, trying to build the friction on her own. I chuckled at her actions, "Who is impatient now?" I asked her.

The most amazing feeling on the face of the earth was being one with my mate. The most beautiful thing I had ever seen? That would have been when we both reached our peak and spilled over as one, her orgasm had gripped her so thoroughly that she screamed my name and her wings tore themselves out of her back and she shuddered violently and a growl slipped from my own throat. When we both caught our breath I ran my fingers through her hair and smiled to myself, she looked up at me in surprise.

"That was-" She paused, unable to find the words to describe it.

"That was the most amazing thing I have ever experienced." I panted in response.

I held her for an immeasurable amount of time after that, neither of us ready to part, even if we were only going home to sleep. Only one thing could have spoiled the moment, and it was the thought circling itself in my mind. Finally I voiced it, "I should have told you ages ago."

She giggled and snuggled into my chest, apparently very satisfied and very close to sleep.


	19. Epilogue

**_This is the end for A Place To Belong. I haven't decided if I will do a sequel, but I doubt I will. There will be a AN at the end of this Chapter so please be sure to check it out! Thank you all so much for sticking with me through this story! Enjoy!_**

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><p><em><strong>Epilogue- 3rd<strong>__** person**_

It was a day for celebrating. The fifth birthday of Lorraine Renee Meraz. All of her friends were present and dinner was being grilled out while the kids played in the pool. Of course, it might have been less stressful on her father, if Rainey hadn't phased and jumped into the air, intending to jump into the pool that way, but her excitement had gotten the better of her and her wings shot out of her spine. She'd lifted into the air in surprise and mid flight decided to play with her daddy. She walked across the rafters with her wings folded against her shoulder blades, her claws sinking into the wood, the feeling of it pleased her, but the look on her dad's face didn't.

"Rainey, get down here!" He shouted, while the other kids just watched and snickered. "Now, young lady!"

Rainey proceeded to release the cutest growl known to man. She was the size of an every day normal wolf, but she sounded like a puppy. There was no way she would intimidate her father, he was ten times her size when he was a wolf. She could comfortably sit between his shoulder blades, which she had done often while he ran patrols, he was showing her the world as she should see it through her special eyes.

Rainey knew she was special, she and her friends had learned early on that they were different, that they had to go to school on the reservation, and they had to keep their secrets. It had shocked her to find that other kids couldn't fly, and they couldn't turn into animals either. Her twin cousins Blake and Tessa could turn into mountain lions and they could also fly. The other kids turned into wolves though.

She'd had her first experience with a regular human when a friend of her parents' had come to visit with her three sons. Rainey's mother had explained that they couldn't fly and they didn't turn into animals, but that Rainey could be herself around them because they knew the secrets, their parents were special once too, but Rainey's mommy had changed that for them, which had made them very happy because it meant they could have babies.

There were four others that were human too, but Rainey's parents had told her that maybe they would be able to turn into wolves when they were older. She knew that their dads were wolves, but their moms were normal humans, and because of that, the change may happen later or not happen at all for them. To Rainey, it seemed like the latter is what they all hoped for, but she couldn't understand that. She loved being a wolf.

"Lorraine Renee Meraz, if you don't get down here right now, I will tell your mother and she'll take back your flying privileges!" Her father growled, glaring up at the small, pure white wolf. That was something that was unique about Rainey too, she was completely white. "Just wait til I tell your mom." He threatened dangerously.

"No need." A melodic voice floated through the pool house and Rainey yelped when she saw her mother standing there with the other Angels behind her, they had gone to the store for drinks and snacks. In a second, Rainey's mother had set her wings loose and flown up into the rafters. She picked up the wolf and took her back down to the floor.

"Why won't she listen to me?" Her father growled.

"Because, babe, you can't fly." Her mom chuckled, kissing her dad on the nose. Rainey let loose a sigh, her parents really loved each other, it made her so happy to see it. One of her classmates had to spend time with her parents separately because they didn't love each other anymore. She was glad she would never have to face that. "Now, young lady, go into the changing room and phase back, then you can explain to me why you flew up into the rafters in the first place."

Rainey released another growl. "Fine, no cake!" Her mother retorted.

So with a yelp, Rainey scrabbled into the changing room to phase back, then her aunt Charlotte handed her a new swimsuit. She pulled it on and returned to her parents. "Sorry momma. Sorry Daddy." She pouted, her blue eyes sparkling.

"Just don't do it again." Her mother ran her hands through her hair and frowned, then she reached up to fix it back into the braid it had been in earlier.

Her dad watched her mom work, then he looked over at the other kids before chuckling, "Who would have thought we would end up here, Bells." He mused.

Her mom looked out over everyone else too, her eyes got sad so Rainey turned around to look at her completely as she replied, "Yeah, I just wish my dad could have been here to see it. Or I wish I could tell my mom."

Rainey knew the man she was talking about, she remembered going to his memorial service right after she turned four, he was her grandfather and his heart had stopped working. The woman though, her grandmother, she wasn't allowed to meet because she didn't know Rainey was special. It bothered Rainey, but it was no more irritating than the shirts she had to wear to school, the ones that constricted her wings. Rainey threw her arms around her mother's neck and hugged her tightly. "I miss grandpa too."

**Bella POV-**

I hugged Rainey back and turned to smile at Paul. She was such a wonderful child, but she was sensitive to emotions. She couldn't hope to understand it yet, and I would have to have Jasper teach her more about it, but somehow she had ended up with the same gift as him. She didn't have the control to manipulate the emotions of others yet, that or her gift hadn't developed fully yet.

We had all been surprised, except Charlotte, when Rainey was born. She was three days old when I discovered the faint lines outlining wings on her back, they darkened infinitesimally every day, and her wings had come out when she was a month old. It had been no more painful to her than teething had been later, which I was happy about. Then on Rainey's first birthday, she phased for the first time and since that first time we couldn't keep her human for an entire day, she loved being in wolf form.

Paul and I had worried at first because we thought our child would have no one to relate to, it was what had given us pause over trying. But then Rose and Emmet brought their oldest son over and I just gave up the fear. It turned out that Leah and Angela got pregnant the same time I did, or around the same time. Leah and Jasper's son, Chase, was a month younger than Rainey, while Angela and Embry's little girl, Emma, was a month younger than him. Blake and Tessa, Charlotte and Peter's kids, were almost a year younger than Rainey.

So everyone that was mated had kids around the same ages. Sam and Emily had two sons, Lucas and Jonathon, they were a year older than Rainey. Jared and Kim had little Catherine, who was the youngest of all the kids at two months old. Rose and Emmet had the oldest though, Dante was almost eight. Their middle son Eli was six, and their youngest son, Jeremiah was only three. Basically, the house was almost always over run with children.

When Paul and I married, we had our own house built, and many of the others followed suit. The long winding driveway had mainly become a street. Peter, Charlotte, and their kids stayed in the main house. Paul and I moved ourselves and the twins into a newly constructed house on the same huge piece of property. Angela and Embry were across from us. Jasper and Leah were next door, between my house and the main house. Rose and Emmet had even moved into the house we had built on the other side of mine for them. Giving them back their humanity had been an emotional ordeal and it allowed me to finally find the softer side of Rosalie Hale.

We often wondered what the pack would look like in the future, and because of the kids we knew would be members because they phased already, Sam had decided that all of the children of pack members would be made well aware of the secret so they could handle it easier than he had. He didn't want anyone to be damned to feel as alone as he did when he first phased. We did know, however, that members of the current pack would be there to guide them. Paul, Embry, and Leah would definitely be there, their mates had eternal life, so they had no reason to stop phasing.

It was also already determined that Sam would never phase again. He'd decided it after I was pulled out of my little coma and he stopped then so he could age with Emily. Jared had come to the same decision and the two of them had supported each other on a level that the rest of us couldn't. Neither of them had phased in more than five years.

I eventually forgave Jacob, a year after Paul and I got together, but we were nowhere near as close as we had been. No, Leah had taken his place as my best friend and he had screwed up too badly for me to let him in again. The twins moved out when they turned eighteen, not far of course, we'd built them each a house nearby because they didn't go a day without coming to see me and the three of us could physically feel the separation when we were apart. Nearby was better.

I also had another suspicion that I wasn't planning on sharing with my husband, and I wondered if he had noticed it on his own. Lucas seemed unusually close to Rainey. He would look at her as if she hung the moon and Rainey counted him as her best and closest friend. They were almost inseparable, so I wondered if Rainey had imprinted on him, or if it was to happen in the future, if and when he phased. Paul wouldn't enjoy finding that out, he was the overprotective father I expected him to be and wanted his daughter to be safe for all eternity. I smiled at my own thought and looked back up at him again.

Rainey had disentangled herself from me to go and shove Lucas in the pool, and Paul was watching thoughtfully. It seemed he had already realized the closeness between the two.

"She's a good girl." I told him quietly. He sat down beside me and put an arm around my shoulders, my wings had been drawn back in when Rainey went to phase back into human.

"Spoiled as hell though." He smirked.

"I wonder who could possibly be to blame for that." I mused.

"I dunno, her momma sure does like to share things though." He winked pulling me over to him so my head was laying on his shoulder and I was facing the pool. I watched Rainey for a few minutes longer, trying to decide whether I should cut her hair or not, it was dark black and hung down to her waist in soft waves, so we had to keep it up most of the time so it wouldn't get in her way. Paul apparently caught the look on my face. "Are you thinking of trying to cut her hair again?" He asked me.

"No." I lied.

"Don't lie to me, woman! Do you remember what happened the last time you tried to cut her hair? It took us all night to find the little monster!"

I sighed, "True."

"The one is crafty as hell though, she's going to be hell as a teenager." Paul looked defeated as he spoke the words.

"No, I don't think so. I think the main trouble we'll have is boys. She does have a long future ahead of her though, she'll need us." I frowned, thinking of how hard it had been to say goodbye to my father, undoubtedly Rainey would become close to the humans she saw everyday and eventually she would have to say goodbye to them, she would need us.

"It's a good thing we can tell her we will always be there for her and mean it." Paul nodded.

Wide blue eyes turned to face me and I gasped. Rainey's hearing was well above what it should have been, especially if she had heard mine and Paul's almost silent conversation. She seemed to have heard, and understood exactly what was said though, because he face brightened and she nodded once before muttering almost silently herself, "Always is good!" Then she spun on her heel and push Lucas, who had been attempting to sneak up on her, back into the pool.

"Yeah." I smiled, "Always is good."

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><p><strong><em>And thus was the end of our story. All of our characters lived happily ever after. ;) <em>**

**_I just wanted to mention that I will have an image uploaded to my profile of what Charlotte looks like when she is phased and has her wings out too. I have been meaning to post it but apparently I forgot, whoops! This should also give you an idea of what any of the kids look like who can phase and have wings, though with the others you'll have to think of a wolf instead of a mountain lion._** Thanks again for reading.


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